I came across an article in The Age,
28th October, 2009, where
Professor Megan-Jane Johnstone from
Deakin University said, "right-to-die
lobbyists had used people's fear to hide
the fact that most deaths were made easier
by modern pain relief..."

She said that, "I think palliative care needs
to reclaim the 'good death high ground.'
Euthanasia has totally hijacked this plateau,
but the reality is that palliative care can
help substantially in the majority of cases.
Palliative care is about quality of life until
they die, and then dying well."

However, a survey last week found that 85 percent
of people agreed that, "a doctor should provide
a 'lethal dose" if , "a hopelessly ill patient,
experiencing unrelievable suffering with absolutely
no chance of recovering asks for (one)."

I'd be interested in posters views on this issue -
having recently experienced a death in the family
where a 'lethal dose' could have relieved the prolonged
suffering of an elderly (very ill) family member.

I have to agree with you. Doctors should give the lethal dose if their patients' ask for it and are in such pain that they do not wish to go on. After all, there is little 'quality of life' when a patient is in dispair and when they have to take pain killers to be able to function properly. It seems to me that a person is in charge of his own life and it is up to them to decide this matter, especially if they have been ill for a long time.

Foxy, may I offer my sincere condolences for yours and your family's loss. I hope that the good memories of a life well-lived might live on in your hearts.

"... the reality is that palliative care can
help substantially in the majority of cases.
Palliative care is about quality of life until
they die, and then dying well."
(Megan-Jane Johnstone)

IMHO, predicting the substance of the hired help in relation to the quality of one's final days might rely on the degree to which the person concerned (aka patient, subject, case) can trust in the kindness of strangers.

Yes it would be a more comfortable finale to die peacefully and with as little pain as possible, but without the sacrifice of one's freedom to remain true to reality at the pinnacle of a human life; the last breath, the last heart-beat, the last wish.

As far as I'm concerned, if ANYONE who is either terminally ill, suffering a disability that is not expected to be remedied within a year, or is over a certain age (really old); ASKS for Euthanasia they should be allowed to get it.

Palative care should improve- but it's nobodies right to say to someone who is no longer able to walk "Well, no, you can't die now- you're clearly not in enough pain- but enjoy your stay with us".

I'd rather not spend day in, day out on drugs in a bed I won't be able to leave.

I'll pass thanks.

When my 98 year old mother is given enough "palative care", to be feeling only reasonable pain, she doesn't know who she is, & talks to the birds sitting on the end of her bed.

When the level is reduced, she wishes she was dead

Her wishes should be no ones business but her's.

Hasbeen describes exactly how it is out in the real world.
I work in palliative care and with the elderly in our community.

The real problem with palliative care is that it focuses on those dying from cancer or other painful terminal diseases.

There are also many people dying from illnesses and diseases like end-stage motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, dense strokes, heart failure, Parkinsons disease, emphysema and many other muscle or nerve wasting diseases that do not always involve the patients actually experiencing pain.

These people therefore often do not have any painkilling drugs such as morphine prescribed for them until the very last days of their lives, when it is often prescribed for severe emotional or physical distress by some caring doctors.

These people then are left to slowly die of 'un-natural causes', without the use of morphine or similar drugs which can be used to assist in slowing the breathing down to hopefully hasten death a little quicker.

Even some cancer stricken palliative care patients do not respond to some morphine medications, and do have awful deaths.

I know this because I have had to care for them, and their families, while they beg me to help them end it. Euthanasia is these peoples only way out.