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So. Assisted Suicide. Good or Bad idea?

yes i didnt say i was disagreeing with you Cj , i was in fact confirming that what you said can happen on many occassions
 
gez said:
My father certainly didn't "not suffer" during the last months of his life. Despite all the drugs they were able to give him it was patently obvious he was in constant pain. My mother had to watch him suffering every day, praying it would end.
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Maybe it has changed then, i don't know but my mother passed in late 2009 & my father much younger back in 1990. They were both given what is basically just under an overdose of morphine to allow the body to pass quietly. My mother couldn't breathe but after the injection felt very calm, every muscle is relaxed until the body stops working, but without the discomfort.
 
Ragaman said:
Maybe it has changed then, i don't know but my mother passed in late 2009 & my father much younger back in 1990. They were both given what is basically just under an overdose of morphine to allow the body to pass quietly. My mother couldn't breathe but after the injection felt very calm, every muscle is relaxed until the body stops working, but without the discomfort.
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All I can say to that is: I genuinely am glad that neither of your parents suffered.

I couldn't even begin to guess if anything has changed regarding policy etc. All I know is that the nurses said it wasn't "safe" to give my father more morphine.
 
paulfromcamden said:
It's not just about pain management (if it can be achieved) - as @Somafunk so clearly explained it's about dignity and quality of life.

Having recently lost my Mum to Motor Neurone Disease, and having watched her become slowly paralysed to the point where she had very little movement beyond her fingers and a few hints of facial expressions, seeing her require 24 hour care to be washed, dressed, even as something as basic as use a bedpan... I can't help but see myself in her position and wonder what i would want.

My Mum lost a lot of her speech and was mostly left with just vowels so could be very hard to understand. But she was still sharp as a pin, understood exactly what was happening and was putting her affairs in order right up to the week she passed.
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This is the problem, too many variables, will one illness preside over another where assisted suicide is concerned, reliant on doctors decisions as i pointed out in my first post.

If it goes ahead i see loopholes opening up all over the place & lawyers making a lot of money. It will need to be rock solid tight legislation but we have lots of rock solid laws around health that are ignored on a daily basis, mainly due to a health service on it's knees right now. I don't feel this is the time to be allowing doctors to assist suicide when the service is stretched to breaking point.
 
gez said:
All I can say to that is: I genuinely am glad that neither of your parents suffered.

I couldn't even begin to guess if anything has changed regarding policy etc. All I know is that the nurses said it wasn't "safe" to give my father more morphine.
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yes it can have consequences . for instance the chap i mentioned earlier was put on oral oramorph regularly and it overdosed him nearly killing him with being comatosed . the dr reduced it and he woke up and they used something else . . sometimes pain is caused by an enlarged spleen or liver and may be treated in other ways to reduce pain. thats why its important to have palliative care input in hospital patients or get them support from marie curie or macmillan
 
Ragaman said:
It will need to be rock solid tight legislation
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Of course.

In recent years a number of countries including New Zealand and Australia have passed legislation to allow assisted dying. It will be interesting to see how they get on. My suspicion is that the system of tight eligibility and appraisal makes it less contentious in practice that one might imagine. But we'll see I guess.
 
too simple a conclusion for here perhaps, but the only real choice if you have a loved one moaning in incurable agony, no brainer to me, it has to be done or wear it on your conscience forever, been there and still am
 
I’ve come to this rather late, in the 21st Century I find it an affront that religious inspired laws from a bygone age prevents an humane exit. Many countries have trodden the legal path, there’s a wealth of experience without having to re-invent the wheel. Just get on with it.
 
I can remember back in 2005 reading a newspaper article about a guy who helped his son to pass. His son had Hunters syndrome and the father smothered him with a pillow. The guy was charged with manslaughter or murder but walked out of court with an innocent verdict, but I guess he carries the weight of what he had done or had to do?

I read the article whilst sat in Sheffiled Children’s Hospital at my son‘s bedside wondering if he was going to make it through his 3rd bout of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. To make matters worse he was diagnosed with XLP (Duncan’s Syndrome) and the ONLY way forward was a stem cell transplant. There were a few times when my son was in a terrible state and the suffering he endured was beyond comprehension. I put myself in that guys shoes and came to the conclusion I would do the same if things took a turn for the worse. Thanks to the amazing staff at that hospital, and the fortunate donor match, he made a sterling recovery.

I guess each situation and set of circumstances needs careful consideration. But it is my firm belief we should all have the option to choose how we go.
 
Mystic Mac said:
I can remember back in 2005 reading a newspaper article about a guy who helped his son to pass. His son had Hunters syndrome and the father smothered him with a pillow. The guy was charged with manslaughter or murder but walked out of court with an innocent verdict, but I guess he carries the weight of what he had done or had to do?
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I suspect he'd also have to live with it had he not done anything, and I think no amount of belief (religious or otherwise) in the "sanctity of life" or whatever can prepare you for that dilemma. Don't know the specific case, but from that little description IMV he probably made the right choice and I am absolutely convinced that allowing him to walk free is the only right verdict.

To me, if you are against ending you life by personal choice then by all means don't do it, but I absolutely agree that the option should be available with the proper guardrails in place as described in some of the above posts.
 
Sue Pertwee-Tyr said:
I read this in Andy Weir’s latest book. Seemed credible; is it?
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Some years ago, Michael Portillo researched methods of capital punishment and how "humane" they were thought to be and if there were "better" alternatives.

Scientists were conducting experiments on pigs and concluded that asphyxiation by nitrogen (or other noble gas) was indeed humane. Other experiments (using human volunteers) concluded that gradually reducing atmospheric pressure resulted in euphoria , unconsciousness and would ultimately result in death.
 
Cav said:
Some years ago, Michael Portillo researched methods of capital punishment and how "humane" they were thought to be and if there were "better" alternatives.

Scientists were conducting experiments on pigs and concluded that asphyxiation by nitrogen (or other noble gas) was indeed humane. Other experiments (using human volunteers) concluded that gradually reducing atmospheric pressure resulted in euphoria , unconsciousness and would ultimately result in death.
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Should it ever become necessary, a nice big intravenous hit of diamorphine would be my preferred route to infinity.
 
If all hope is gone and continuing to live is unbearable or pointless then it is kindest to let the sufferer choose how and when to go.

A friend's mother was terminally ill and for reasons I cannot recall the doctors enforced complete nil by mouth, her son and husband were forced to sit by her bedside for days watching her die while being unable to even relieve her thirst. I have never understood how the medical staff reconciled such an end with their training.
 
CarrotMan said:
I suspect he'd also have to live with it had he not done anything, and I think no amount of belief (religious or otherwise) in the "sanctity of life" or whatever can prepare you for that dilemma. Don't know the specific case, but from that little description IMV he probably made the right choice and I am absolutely convinced that allowing him to walk free is the only right verdict.

To me, if you are against ending you life by personal choice then by all means don't do it, but I absolutely agree that the option should be available with the proper guardrails in place as described in some of the above posts.
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This was the case, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/dec/13/health.crime
 
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