Bulletin 12: Physician Assisted Dying (PAD) versus Suicide

26th May 2008

In the rush to the comfort of a dictionary to define “suicide” in a bulletin to Members, SuicideNo have missed a key point and it is this: that behind intolerable and unrelievable suffering there is a person. People do not live in dictionaries.

Consider these issues:

• Contemporary Australian society considers a suicide to be an irrational, hasty and regrettable act in response to a temporary or correctible situation. There is a great deal of stigma attached to suicide and attempted suicide. The stigma is readily acknowledged across society and is evidenced in the attached letter, overleaf.
• Those suffering with a terminal or advanced incurable illness that involves intolerable and unrelievable suffering may choose to endure, or may choose to end their sufferingby the only means of relief possible—death; preferably a peaceful one.
• Ninety four percent of Victorian doctors believe that such a request can be rational.
• The Medical Treatment (Physician Assisted Dying) Bill 2008 requires a sufferer to be fully advised as to all available options, meaning any decision is fully informed.
• Equating a rational decision taken by someone with intolerable and unrelievable suffering with no chance of improvement and who must endure a rigorous qualification process to obtain assistance to die peacefully, with the irrational, hasty and regrettable death of others is callous and uncompassionate.

In addition to this, there are further implications. A death classified as a suicide may have quite negative implications for the interpretation of statutes, wills, contracts, insurance and annuity policies of the sufferer, potentially denying rights and benefits. This would add further unfairness to their and their loved ones’ suffering.

It is for this reason that the Medical Treatment (Physician Assisted Dying) Bill 2008 stipulates that such a death shall not be recorded or interpretedas a suicide. The cause of death is classified as the underlying disease or condition. This approach gives compassionate understanding for those who suffer intolerably with no other relief.

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Parkinson’s Sufferer Hangs Himself

Six years ago my dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. It was controlling his life and he tried to hide the fact from his family.

So my father took his own life by way of hanging. He tried to make the act as easy as possible on his family. He wore a calico bag over his face and left a note on the doorway before anyone entered, saying Open with Caution.

The police called it suicide even though there were numerous articles on euthanasia and stories found in his house, on families possibly being charged if they assist with helping or being with someone that chooses to die.

The word ‘suicide’ torments me. My dad wasn’t depressed, he was ill.

Every day I think about the way my dad suffered in his last moments. He was a loving man who brought up four daughters. It kills me that he died alone. I wish I could have been with him. The whole family does.

It’s trashed me my memories. Thoughts about my dad’s suffering and the manner of his death hurt.

I wrote a few years ago to my parliament members about voluntary euthanasia for people with a terminal illness. I was given a standard reply that really didn’t answer anything, just that they couldn’t pass a law because of not enough interest.

I truly believe if I had been with my father, our whole family in a humane loving manner when he chose to end his suffering, it would have made all the difference in the world.

Instead now we are left focusing on the vile way he died.

Ms Jennifer McCoy, 16th March 2008

DWDV Comment—

Jennifer’s tragic story is the human face of a lack of compassionate options. Four elderly Australians commit suicide every week in undignified and often violent ways because the law does not offer an environment that facilitates open discussion, or for loved ones to be present and to say goodbye when a terminally ill sufferer chooses to die.

While Jennifer’s dad may in reality have had some form of depression, the current legal environment created, as it so often does, the perception that no other options were available. A more inclusive legislative regime would help people like Jennifer’s father to seek medical assistance, including treatment for depression where necessary, the best palliative care, and the option to die peacefully if he or she determines that no level of acceptable care is providing relief from intolerable suffering.