I bumped to my old GP yesterday in town and he was campaigning to change the law to allow assisted dying for the terminal ill. As a GP he has seem terrible suffering. He mentioned that in the old days one could over medicate morphine that would help but now days it’s all done by nurses on a very strict procedure. It reminded me of my dad who passed away 20 odd years ago. On the day he died he was curled up on the sofa in agony. That night my mum controlled the morphine and he finally passed away.
I have the odd bout of prostatitis which lasts for an hour but is horrific and so painful that is it worrying this fate could face us sometime in the future.
He said the Oregan had the law installed some 20 years to allow assisted dying and a lot of the fears proved unfounded.
I would be in favour. What do we think
Andy
I think this is a battle between head and heart for most people
No one wants to see their relatives suffer but the checks and balances need to be in place.
That said I have seen family in such a state in their last days that it seemed more humane to end their suffering, you would not let a dog live like that…
I am for it in principal but due diligence needs to occur first.
I’m quite happy with the concept, when I get to a point where I can’t go to the loo or feed myself just shoot me. My uncle was a brilliant engineer and clock repairer after retirement but developed a mental degenerative disease, in the end just couldn’t communicate what he wanted and got so frustrated at how he had become he went outside and shot himself.
The irony was that when he initially realised what his issue was he left his body to medical science so someone might use his brain to enhance understanding, but most ended up across his garage.
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100% agree with it & it will happen as we are keeping too many people alive that are not "living".
The World cannot sustain it for many reasons let alone the unnecessary suffering.
My 91 year old Mum says everyday why hasn't He taken me yet!.....a very sad way to be but we all know someone saying the same thing sadly.
Watch the documentary."The Last Flight Home".
Very moving.
Last edited by P9CLY; 13th October 2023 at 15:08.
My father's last night passed a lot easier after a trusted conversation between the doctor, my mother, sister and I.................
You have to have the right doctor and the right family members.
I'm in favour having supported parents with awful illnesses ... but I fear the church has so much political influence in the UK it will never happen ...
It's a very contentious issue but I`m in favour of allowing doctors to use their discretion. My mum dies in 2003 in hospital from acute lymphoma and was being given morphine, she had lost consciousness and I suspect she may have been given a helping hand at the end, she died peacefully and despite the upset I was satisfied that her passing had been handled correctly by the hospital staff. My father died 3 years later in similar circumstances in the local hospice.
Doctors should be given discretion when it is in the patients best interests to have their life reach a peaceful end.
Having been through this recently with my father, it seemed to me that the palliative care nurses would like to help as much as they can once it’s clear it’s only going one way, but it has to be the illness on the death certificate and not a generous dose of painkillers. The result is rather less pain relief than either they or the patient might wish for, given the choice. Medical science has become very good at extending life well beyond the point where it might otherwise have naturally ended in times past, but at the risk of turning us into zombies who can’t enjoy much of that extra time. Rightly, the focus is on extending ‘good years’, but the bad months at the end can also become a drawn out and painful process. I don’t know what to conclude, other than it sucks.
I’m certain my Grandfathers village GP helped him on his way at the end, in his own bed at home surrounded by his family, I’ll always be grateful.
Cheers..
Jase
Every day, I wish my dad was still alive. Every day, I'm thankful he died quickly.
I want to die like he did, no suffering, no loss of dignity, no burden. We saw the toll my grandfather's prolonged death took on him as a human and it wasn't nice too see, I'm all for assisted dying.
Assisted dying already happens for sure. Doctors are in a sticky situation. The best interests of their patients v getting charged for murder
100% in support of assisted dying in appropriate circumstances, and there's a surprising number of books out there on the subject of self deliverance.
Originally Posted by walkerwek1958
While I'm broadly in favour, no perfect system could be designed. For (an extreme) example, would Harold Shipman have been given carte Blanche?
Switzerland and Holland have the rights of the patient at the forefront of the right to die. Why we can’t have the same system is a constant mystery to me.
The current law is an ass, my Mother had a severe stroke, doctor told me she wasn’t responding to drugs and she would die, because of the law they basically starved her to death, she was in a coma like state, she was on a drip for hydration for 1 1/2 weeks slowly wasting away, when i complained they removed the drip and just waited for her to pass, surely if there is no hope they should help them pass quickly with dignity for their sake and the sake of the loving relatives rather then forcing them to watch their loved ones slowly die
Having watched my mother die a slow and undignified death , despite the best efforts of the hospice staff , I cursed Harold Shipman and Bishops in the House of Lords then and now , their actions will prevent the “humane alternative “ ever being permitted in this country. … Please prove me wrong .
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This is the problem, I don’t know anyone who isn’t in favour subject to the necessary controls …
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