Euthanasie, dont legalise in UK.

[MrsMarkieParkie]

I just read that 8% of deaths in Canada last year happened via euthanasia. This doesnt sit right with me. Also, as described in the article, the protocol seems mostly the same as the US death by lethal injection.
Do we want this in the UK?

Erm I'm not sure where your friend has worked. Dementia is a massive variable disease so people are content , some people are definitely not some will yell "Help , Help " "I'm scared" "Mummy" "When am I going to die?"."I want to go to bed" all day all night , some refuse food and seem to have withdrawn from the world There's only so much calming medications you can give. I'm not scared of dying I'm scared of being afraid and terrified.

I don't want a slow decline , I want to be pain free and content. I don't cope well with when Im in pain. I want company and comforting that's not going to happen with the care home ratios, it would be in my best interests if I'm unhappy and declining to let me go. It's really about bodily autonomy we should get more of a choice.

If people want to be alive that's fine but people should be able to choose if they don't want their life to be extended. Right now all you can do is refuse life sustaining treatment, starve dehydrate to death. Isn't an injection much more humane for the people who want it?

You're probably right in your last paragraph, but with a failing NHS, people living longer and with no pension, I don't think there's going to be any chance to provide better health care in the future in most cases.

I want it. I want control of my death. Death can be brutal for the individual, and for the family and friends that can only watch on helpless. It doesn’t need to be that way and it’s crazy that we can’t choose.

Shipman was a complete maniac. Murdering women for their money..Didn't that rogue also falsify the victim's wills in his favour?..Sickening.

A pharmacy locally said Shipman caused a lot of things to change around prescribing of opiates/opioids.

It was a sharp eyed pharmacist who noticed Shipman was getting through large quantities of opiates {if I recall correctly}

The government will legalise it not because they want to give citizens bodily autonomy but because we have an aging population with increased comorbidities and it's very expensive to keep people alive with a lack of young adults paying taxes. The government will view it as a way to save money It's coming so it's best to prepare for how it will work with safeguards. I think it shouldn't be allowed for functional MH issues it should be for progressive terminal conditions.

I watched my beloved gran die last Wednesday, at home, after several days of absolute agony, no dignity, horrible pain and discomfort despite the wonderful EOL nurses and carers' best efforts. I will never forget it, or how she looked at us, unable to communicate but just pleading 'help me', and we couldn't do anything else. She was the person we loved the most in the world but it was a blessing when she did finally go, as watching that was worse than any sadness we are feeling now.
I just said that I hope the law has changed when it is my turn to go - as many have said here, you wouldn't let a dog suffer like that.

If it can be proven it is 100% of the persons decision with no pressure from anyone I don't think any of us can have an opinion

Yes people need to be able to die with dignity
We allow it for animals wii can’t speak why not humans

So you want to be left dying slowly in pain when you know the medics do have a way of quickly easing your suffering?

I have a problem with other people refusing but it's about bodily autonomy, my cat has more chance of a painless death than I do. I'm not religious I don't believe in God so what has it got to do with anyone else how I wish to die ?

Obviously I won't mention the place where she works, but it has changed her views about Dementia. With enough trained staff who want to be there..it does seem to make a real difference.

She has worked there for about 18 months.

I completely agree with you, the thought of Dementia terrifies me..I'd rather euthanasia.

Seems care homes vary a lot.

I agree that ethically this is wrong.

For me it should be a choice made be and instigated by an individual either verbally or through a very specific pre-consent with specific criteria etc (such as medical conditions/criteria that must be met as per patients wishes) and that is regularly updated to a point where it can be said to be current (eg: if someone renews consent annually but then ends up 6months later in a condition where they wouldn’t want to live then that would be better than an agreement 20 years old and maybe forgotten about)

i also feel that euthanasia should only be mentioned as an option by drs if such an agreement exists/patient has said it’s their wish (unless it’s in the context of withdrawing medical life support for a patient that can’t recover these functions to survive in much the same way they already do). I find it shocking that Canada thinks it’s ethically ok to ask next of kin to consider it as an alternative to lifelong care/treatment

It would be another Liverpool Pathway disaster. Introduced for the right reasons, but would quickly lead to many scandals.

Huh? If the person dying is making thr decision for themselves with no pressure from anyone else no one should have an opinion

Not sure how many other ways I can say it is up to person dying only to decide

Absolutely want it here. My grandfather was humanely put to sleep by his doctor who was also a great friend. This happened after discussion with my grandmother, my sister and aunt. He was in a lot of pain and suffering from an illness from which he would never recover and there isn't any remedy.
When my grandmother, his wife, was very ill, my mum and my aunt (her two daughters) both said that they wished that they could do for her as happened to grandad. Sadly, Doctor had passed by then. We all had to watch my beloved Nan die an awful death. She couldn't walk, talk, eat and didn't even recognise us.
Surely it would have better for her to be put to sleep than just survive for another year, laying in a hospital bed, not understanding where she was.
I definitely think so.

I work in a specialist complex care unit it's basically 5 star funded by the NHS. So it's nothing to do with carers/nurses most patients are on a 1:1 ratio. it's the best place I've worked it's the nature of the disease that it's uncertain. I've worked with some people who are content with dementia and some who are really not. It's a roll of a dice of what impact it has. If I was suffering and afraid I would want it to be quick.

The thing is..If someone was to supply you a drug to end your life, they could be potentially charged your murder.

Well the public have no idea about the dying process. They seem to think the dying can eat and drink normally they can't. If you force food and drink on someone actively dying with no swallow reflex they can choke to death causing even more distress.

Well the law needs to change and it will.

That’s not how you cite things! Link please?

There is a place for assisted dying. To be honest, however, that place is probably not Canada, which now has a track record when it comes to falling down really stupid rabbit holes and failing to do proper safeguarding on this kind of thing (see also, trans).

I worded it wrong people should be free to decline . I'm not religious I don't believe in God so religious people should have no say in the way I die. I think euthanasia should be opt in only , it should only be the patient that requests and they should be allowed to request as part of advanced care planning. A doctor shouldn't be allowed to mention it.

I believe it's a personal decision and like abortion I would say if you don't agree with euthanasia, or assisted dying then don't request it - simple! Let others choose for themselves though.

I would include mental illness in that too - nobody should have the right to tell others they must continue living in a constant hell, mental pain can be every bit as consuming and life-limiting as physical pain.

Besides, banning things doesn't stop them from happening, people still end their lives but with risky methods which can have grave consequences if the suicide isn't completed.I know somebody who attempted to hang himself in his 20s and has been in a care home ever since with severe brain damage. What an horrific life society has made him endure without his consent

I sadly know all about dying. The Liverpool Pathway was forced on people prematurely. Reports of patients begging for water with one patient drinking water from a vase. Very different from the natural process of the body shutting down and patients n longer wanting to eat or drink.

Quite possibly my friend hasn't yet seen people who are really distressed yet, because she is new at the job.

Our neighbour with ''Bad trip'' type dementia, poor woman was wearing about ten layers of clothing on a sweltering hot day, and had locked herself out of her house, and was begging and pleading to be let back in.

I tried to help her, {We did get her in eventually} but she said ''Who are you! Go away!'' while banging on her windows and shouting at invisible people inside the house, and in cars parked outside.

She had been a friendly and mild mannered person before developing Dementia.
It was very distressing to witness, but must have been far, far worse for the poor Neighbour.

That is tragic.

A train driver I knew had to quit working as a train driver after a Suicide incident.

It caused the driver extreme guilt and made him ill, as he would see it over and over in his mind's eye.

It is a difficult topic, and tricky to know how to make it legally watertight and humane.

People have survived suicide attempts and been ''So thankful to have been given another chance to rebuild their lives'' {Quoted from a Survivor}