Twelve reasons why assisted suicide should not be legalised;
1.)The number of elderly beds in hospitals has been reduced from 27 000 - 21 000 over a period of five years, a reduction of 25%.
2.) Mid Staffordshire Hospital
3.) From 2004 - 2008, the number of specialist nursing homes for dementia sufferers has been reduced by 389, a drop of 9%.
4.)£289 per head per sufferer is spent on cancer research. £11 per head per sufferer is spent on dementia.
5.) NICE tried to remove all dementia medicines from presciption. After protests, it reinstated them, but only to be prescribed in the later stages of dementia when medicines like Aricept would be useless. Doctors now have to lie about what stage a dementia sufferer is at, so that they qualify for a presciption.
6.) Martin Ryan, a Downe's sufferer, died after being left for 26 days without food or water in hospital. Mencap reported on this and several other cases of neglect of people with learning difficulties in hospitals.
7.) Martin Amis is using the issue to promote his latest book launch.
8.) The worst health secretary in living memory and failed Labour coup leader is supporting it.
9.) Dr Jane Barton injected her elderly patients with doses of diamorphine and killed them. The GMC let her keep her registration.
10.) Margaret Haywood blew the whistle on neglect in an elderly care ward and got struck off the nursing register.
11.) The pro-euthanasia bioethicist Dr. Helga Kuhse said:
"If we can get people to accept the removal of all treatment and care—especially removal of food and fluids—they will see what a painful way this is to die and then, in the patient's best interests, they will accept the lethal injection."
12.) Hippocrates said:
"First do no harm."
3 comments:
It would be enough of a reason for me to be against Martin Amis. My view of that self publicising fascist is not for your eyes or ears.
Everything we hear or see at the moment seems related to this issue. It is simple really; stick with Hippocrates and 'do no harm'. Once a doctor deviates from this they are no longer a healer, only an executioner.
I worry about assisted suicide. I worry particularly about choices being made from which there are no ways back. It sits so uncomfortably with me and I can't even clearly list all the reasons why. I think you've made a much better job of clarifying some of my own thoughts there though.
"Doctors now have to lie about what stage a dementia sufferer is at . . ."
Not quite true. In my corner I meet with the PCT commissioners every few weeks so we have a good relationship. They let and pay for us prescribing for any patient with dementia, at any stage.
Up the road in two neighbouring Trusts, patients simp[ly don't get the drugs.
I'm sure there'll be some docs who frame things as more severe than they need to, to assist their patients, but mostly my experience is of a postcode lottery, where either patients get 'em or they don't.
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