Nursing Care Group Asks For Court Advice On Keeping Man Alive

Nursing care group asks for court advice on keeping man alive, Aug. 6, 2009.

A nursing care group has asked a court if it can legally feed a quadriplegic man who has asked it to stop.

In a case that right-to-die advocate Philip Nitschke says is "very important" to the campaign for legally assisted suicides, Perth man Christian Rossiter has pleaded to end his life.

The 49-year-old patient at the Brightwater nursing home in Perth's northern suburbs says he's in "a living hell" because of total paralysis and needs 24-hour care.

Speaking through a tracheotomy tube, Mr Rossiter told reporters on Thursday that he hopes an application to the West Australian Supreme Court will result in him being allowed to die.

He has asked the nursing home to cease feeding and hydrating him through a tube to his stomach, known as a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube.

The Brightwater Care Group said on Thursday it is asking the court whether it is lawfully feeding Mr Rossiter, in view of his requests to stop.

"(The requests) place Brightwater in a position of conflict between its duty of care and its obligation to respect Mr Rossiter's request, and raises complex issues at law," a statement from lawyers acting for the group said.

Mr Rossiter first publicly declared his wish to die in June, and has since had discussions with Dr Nitschke and Perth lawyer John Hammond about possible options for ending his life.

These may include refusal of food, nutrition and liquids or travelling to Switzerland to undergo legally administered lethal injections.

Mr Rossiter said Australia should adopt Switzerland's euthanasia laws and allow people freedom of choice in their right to live or die.

"I'm hoping the courts won't force them (nursing home staff) to sustain me," Mr Rossiter said.

"This is living hell.

"I used to be a cyclist, I used to be a keen walker.

"I bushwalked around the world ... I've rock climbed in Yosemite Valley in California up very steep cliffs.

"I've got a degree in economics and now I can't even read a newspaper, I can't turn the pages.

"I want to have the food withdrawn."

Mr Hammond, who was by his client's side, said Mr Rossiter's wishes should be respected.

"He wants to die now, not tomorrow, not next week, but he wants to die now and he wants to die without pain," Mr Hammond said.

"I think if we are to be civilised in the way we deal with people like Mr Rossiter then his wish should be granted."

Dr Nitschke congratulated the Brightwater group "for going down the path of seeking legal advice on this".

"In the meantime, of course, we've been involved in making sure Chris has got good legal representation, too, so that his rights can be reflected," he told Fairfax Radio Network.

But he warned that Mr Rossiter was choosing a difficult path if he decided to fast himself to death.

"I certainly made it clear to Chris that while it has a certain appeal - that one can simply stop eating and drinking - the idea that it's an easy road is far from the truth," he said.

Brightwater's lawyers said the care group was taking a neutral stance on Mr Rossiter's wishes.

"Brightwater is not seeking to take a position or making an application to the court that is either in opposition to or endorses Mr Rossiter's request," it said.

Brightwater chief executive Dr Penny Flett said it was a complex legal issue and court advice was being sought in order for Mr Rossiter to be provided "with the best possible care".

By Warwick Stanley and Aleisha Preedy, AAP