This short paper for one of the world's leading bioethics journals introduces readers to medical tourism - the travel of patients from their home country to another for the primary purpose of seeking medical treatment. The paper divides medical tourism into three types: (1) Medical tourism for services illegal in both the patient's home and destination countries (e.g., organ transplant tourism); (2) Medical tourism for services that are illegal in the patient's home country but legal in the destination country (e.g., some forms of fertility tourism, euthanasia tourism, experimental drug tourism); (3) Medical tourism for services legal in both the home and destination country (e.g., traveling abroad for a heart valve or hip replacement). The paper then discusses several difficult ethical and regulatory challenges posed by each type of medical tourism.
Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf says she wants the government to rethink its proposal to tighten legislation on assisted suicide. Widmer-Schlumpf, in a SonntagsZeitung newspaper interview, said assisted suicide should not only be limited to the terminally ill who are close to death.
Two people have been arrested on suspicion of assisting the suicide of a disabled man from South Tyneside. Retired engineer Douglas Sinclair, 76, had been suffering from the debilitating disorder multiple system atrophy, his solicitor said. Christopher Potts said Mr Sinclair died in Zurich on 28 July. He arranged his death through the Swiss assisted-suicide organisation Dignitas. The woman and man who were arrested have been bailed as inquiries continue. Mr Sinclair, a father-of-one, had had the condition for two years. He was being cared for at a care home in Jarrow, South Tyneside, when his conditioned worsened earlier this year.
Following the House of Lords' decision in Purdy, the Director of Public Prosecutions issued an interim policy for prosecutors setting out the factors to be considered when deciding whether a prosecution in an assisted suicide case is in the public interest. This paper considers the interim policy, the subsequent public consultation and the resulting final policy. Key aspects of the policy are examined, including the condition of the victim, the decision to commit suicide and the role of organised or professional assistance. The inclusion of assisted suicides which take place within England and Wales makes the informal legal change realised by the policy more significant than was originally anticipated.
In this report, Professor Knaplund discusses the Montana Supreme Court case of Baxter v. State of Montana (2009 MT 449), which ruled on the issue of a doctor's liability in a physician aid in dying (PAD) situation. In this case, the plaintiff was suffering from mutual symptoms related to his terminal lymphocytic leukemia and the chemotheraphy treatments he was receiving for it. Along with several other named plaintiffs, including board-certified physicians and the group Compassion and Choice, Mr. Baxter sued to have the state's homicide statute declared to of the constitutional rights of those who are dying to seek a physician's aid in achieving death.
Switzerland has become the final destination of choice for citizens of nearby countries determined to end their own lives in peace. But a vote on Sunday could bring all of that to an end.
Sir Terry Pratchett, the author, believes doctors should be able to prescribe a take-home suicide kit which would be “close to the ideal” way for terminally ill people to end their lives.
14 June 2011 Sir Terry Pratchett has said witnessing a man being helped to die for a controversial BBC film has not affected his support for assisted suicide. Sir Terry and director of the documentary, Charlie Russell, joined BBC Breakfast the morning after the film was shown on television.
Berne. On Wednesday, the Federal Council decided against introducing specific provisions in criminal law on organised assisted suicide. It concluded that such an amendment to criminal law would have various drawbacks. In response to the outcome of the consultation process, the Federal Council instructed the Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) on to revise the proposed definition of due diligence for employees of assisted suicide organisations. Today, the Federal Council concluded that such a revision would only specify in detail the obligations which already arise from the prevailing law (Article 115 of the Criminal Code ); to render assisted suicide admissible, the current legal provisions already require the person seeking suicide to have the mental capacity to consent and to be sufficiently well informed. Moreover, the term "selfish motives" referred to in the abovementioned legislation already renders criminal prosecution possible in cases of assisted suicide abuse.
L’interdiction de l’homicide s’applique sans restriction en Suisse. L’euthanasie active directe (homicide intentionnel visant à abréger les souffrances d’une personne) est ainsi interdite. En revanche, l’euthanasie active indirecte (utilisation de substances dont les effets secondaires peuvent réduire la durée de la survie) et l’euthanasie passive (renonciation à la mise en œuvre de mesures de maintien de la vie ou interruption de celles-ci), sous certaines conditions, ne sont pas punissables – sans être réglées expressément au niveau la loi. Il n’y a pas de nécessité de légiférer à propos de ces trois formes d’euthanasie. Afin d’empêcher que l’assistance organisée au suicide ne se transforme en une activité orientée vers le profit et de mieux protéger la vie humaine, deux options sont à l’étude : l’adoption de restrictions législatives d’une part, et l’interdiction des organisations d’assistance au suicide d’autre part.
Russel Ogden has seen enough people end their own lives to convince him that a planned and fully accountable suicide is a right all Canadians should have. This week in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Mr. Ogden and the Farewell Foundation For The Right To Die will be fighting both the provincial and federal governments to make “self-chosen death” a legal option.
At 63, Pratchett — who has been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's — speaks openly about causing his own death. "I believe everyone should have a good death," he tells NPR's Steve Inskeep. "You know, with your grandchildren around you, a bit of sobbing. Because after all, tears are appropriate on a death bed. And you say goodbye to your loved ones, making certain that one of them has been left behind to look after the shop." Pratchett has become an advocate for legalized assisted suicide in Britain, making him one of many voices in a global debate. Many oppose the practice for religious reasons or because they fear a slippery slope to involuntary euthanasia; but Pratchett has turned the legalization of assisted suicide into something of a personal crusade.
A 46-year-old-man who wants to die after a stroke that left him almost completely paralysed is bringing a groundbreaking legal action that could effectively lead to the legalisation of assisted suicide in the UK. Martin was a fit and active man who enjoyed rugby, cars and socialising with friends in the pub before suffering a brainstem stroke three years ago. Now requiring round-the-clock care, his mobility is limited to moving his eyes and small movements of his head. He communicates by staring at letters on a computer screen which the machine recognises and forms into words spoken by a digitised voice. Martin has been asking to die since six months after the stroke but says he has no one willing to assist him and cannot on his own organise a trip to the Swiss clinic Dignitas, where he could end his life legally. His wife, who chooses to be known as Felicity, says she will be with him if he dies but will not help bring about his death.
Australians in their 20s and 30s are killing themselves with the drug that euthanasia advocate, Dr Philip Nitschke, has promoted as the ''peaceful pill''. The Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine has found that 51 people in Australia have died from an overdose of Nembutal in the past 10 years. While the lethal barbiturate is only available for veterinarians to euthanise animals in Australia, Dr Nitschke has been helping people obtain it from Mexican vets and other overseas sources since the late 1990s.