A Painless, Comfortable Death For A Dog, Why Not For A Man?

A painless, comfortable death for Alan's dog 45 years ago, why not for him?,

July 1, 2011.

ALAN Rosendorff knows the value of a peaceful death. When his first dog Jimmy was battling a terminal illness 45 years ago, he took him to the vet who had looked after him since he was a pup.

''The vet laid him down on his table and said 'I'm sorry old soldier, I've known you for 15 years, but it's time to go.' He died painlessly and comfortably with the vet talking to him the whole time. It left such an impression on me,'' said Mr Rosendorff of the death he witnessed as a teenager.

Now, aged 58 and dying of cancer, Mr Rosendorff is wondering why a doctor cannot show him the same kindness.

With just months or possibly weeks to live, he has requested a meeting with Premier Ted Baillieu to express his frustration that he and others like him cannot access voluntary euthanasia. Above all, the Melbourne lawyer wants the government to ask the Victorian Law Reform Commission to examine the issue so Victorians can have an informed debate similar to that which preceded the decriminalisation of abortion three years ago.

In a letter delivered to Mr Baillieu's office yesterday, he said that after living a life full of choice about how to live, he is now denied a choice about how he wants to die.

''The disheartening reality is that as my illness progresses towards death it is quite possible, indeed likely, that I will experience intolerable and uncontrollable pain and suffering, despite the excellent quality of palliative care available to me,'' he wrote. ''There is no legal choice that I can exercise to peacefully bring my life to an end in a way, if and when I am ready, that is to my mind appropriate and humane.''

A spokesman for Mr Baillieu said he would urgently consider Mr Rosendorff's request.

In an interview with The Age, Mr Rosendorff said he was facing an ever increasing amount of physical and existential pain stemming from cancer in his stomach and lungs.

Since being diagnosed with an aggressive tumour in the join of his stomach and oesophagus two years ago, he has undergone stomach surgery and several rounds of chemotherapy, which led to a heart attack in 2009.

The surgery, which removed part of his stomach, has left him with little control over his bowel and he feels constantly nauseous despite being on a diet of only powdered food and soup. He has lost 30 kilograms, feels weak and cannot tolerate many drug treatments that produce side effects worse than those of his illness.

Mr Rosendorff said the most distressing symptom of his disease was an intermittent bubbling of acid up his throat which forces him to sleep upright at night to avoid choking.

''Almost every night, I slip down at some stage and when that happens, I start drowning in acid. It is the most ghastly feeling, you can't breathe because your lungs fill with acid and it burns your mouth.''

Two grapefruit-sized tumours in his lungs also trigger sudden, searing pain when they hit nerves.

However, he said all of his physical symptoms pale in comparison to the loss of control, enjoyment and purpose in life that he feels.

''It's the inability to sit at a table and enjoy food with your children, grandchildren and friends. It's the inability to go out on a Saturday night to a restaurant, and if you do, having everyone feel uncomfortable because you can't eat. It's the hurt and anxiety it creates for your family …

'' At the end of the day, these are the things that make me want to exercise a choice.''

If he had the option, Mr Rosendorff said he would choose a path similar to that of his old dog. He feared a slow, painful decline where his life was prolonged because of a carer's religious or ethical urge to avoid interventions that would hasten his death.

''I can't think of a better way to go than to be surrounded by the right people in a loving, safe and warm environment where I'm exercising the choice at the right time for the right reasons.''

Dr Rodney Syme, a Victorian physician who says he has helped many people die despite laws banning assisted suicide, said Mr Rosendorff faced a grim end, which included the possibility of choking or starving to death.

''I'm afraid to say that if the disease goes its full course, Alan faces a bleak future,'' he said. ''If he goes to the end of the terminus, it's an appalling vision, so it's no surprise that an intelligent man like Alan might want to get off the tram one or two stops before that point.''

Neil Francis, president of Dying with Dignity Victoria and head of YourLastRight.com, said it was time the Victorian government listened to its people who overwhelmingly support voluntary euthanasia. The last Newspoll survey of 1200 Australians in 2009 found that 84 per cent of Victorians supported physician-assisted death.

Furthermore, he said, the US states of Oregon and Washington and the Netherlands had shown there were safe models to introduce.

''At the moment, the law lags behind the will of the people,'' Mr Francis said.

However, Right to Life Australia vice-president Katrina Haller said although her group felt compassion for those who were dying and in pain, it signalled a need for more care, not killing. She said proposals to introduce voluntary euthanasia endangered vulnerable people, such as the elderly, the dying, the depressed and the disabled.

''The right to life affirms the dignity of all patients, regardless of illness or disability,'' she said. ''If a person is suicidal, they need proper treatment, possibly for depression. Bills for euthanasia are dangerous in practice and so-called safeguards would prove unenforceable.''

Legislation for voluntary euthanasia has been introduced and defeated or lapsed 12 times in the various states and territories, including once in Victoria in 2008. Such legislation has only been passed once, in the Northern Territory in 1995, but was overturned eight months later by the federal government.

By Julia Medew, The Age