Euthanasia

[Bakerboy 4,663]

I am sort of in agreement with the idea of giving people who are terminally ill the right to choose when they want to die, then I'm reading bits and bobs about it in other parts of the World and came across this;

" One of the greatest reasons for concern is the sheer scale of Canada's euthanasia regime, California provides a useful point of comparison, it legalised medically assisted death the same year as Canada, 2016 and it has about the same population, in 2021 in California 486 people died using the state assisted suicide programme. In Canada 10,064 used MAID, (medical assistance in dying) to die ".

Surely that can't be right

Edited December 20, 2022 by Bakerboy

[pesky1972 5,217]

No real context on numbers but a quick search shows about 300k deaths in canada p/a, so only maybe 3% assisted? If it’s used to intervene in the lingering and painful final stages of cancer and dementia, then I’d say the number might even be lower than I’d expect.

[paulus 26]

Trust me it happens here but you will never hear anything about it. it just happens, I have watched family members with brain tumours fall into a coma, then lay in a bed for a fortnight or so before the failure of a vital organ puts them finally out of their misery, Why should the choice of ending your life at a point of your choosing be down to anybody else but yourself, providing you are sound enough of mind to be able to make that choice.  

[Bakerboy 4,663]

6 minutes ago, paulus said:

Trust me it happens here but you will never hear anything about it. it just happens, I have watched family members with brain tumours fall into a coma, then lay in a bed for a fortnight or so before the failure of a vital organ puts them finally out of their misery, Why should the choice of ending your life at a point of your choosing be down to anybody else but yourself, providing you are sound enough of mind to be able to make that choice.  

I've seen it happen here mate

[mole trapper 1,693]

It's completely ridiculous that it's not allowed. 

[jukel123 7,957]

1 hour ago, paulus said:

Trust me it happens here but you will never hear anything about it. it just happens, I have watched family members with brain tumours fall into a coma, then lay in a bed for a fortnight or so before the failure of a vital organ puts them finally out of their misery, Why should the choice of ending your life at a point of your choosing be down to anybody else but yourself, providing you are sound enough of mind to be able to make that choice.  

When I decide I'm going,I won't be asking anybody's permission. Wiping my arse is no problem at the moment.As soon as someone talks about doing it for me,I'm off.

[paulus 26]

3 minutes ago, jukel123 said:

When I decide I'm going,I won't be asking anybody's permission. Wiping my arse is no problem at the moment.As soon as someone talks about doing it for me,I'm off.

As long as its your choice that's all that matters mate 

[FOXHUNTER 5,021]

Should have been legalised a long time ago , it's my life and  I should be able to choose when it ends.

[Qbgrey 4,086]

It would free up the nhs too.

[iworkwhippets 12,511]

im up for it, its not exactly a pleasant jobby wiping ones own arse , neh mind someone else doing it, so if that day comes, im f****d if i no [BANNED TEXT] to do, lol, im losing it i am

[Bakerboy 4,663]

59 minutes ago, FOXHUNTER said:

Should have been legalised a long time ago , it's my life and  I should be able to choose when it ends.

Agree mate, I just don't trust a government not to move the goal posts going forward, like they have with capital punishment and homosexuality ect

[pesky1972 5,217]

Moving drama on BBC about a terminal cancer diagnosis and a decision on assisted dying. Worth a watch.., decent soundtrack too. 

 

[Nicepix 5,650]

I know that I am not allowed to have an opinion, but this is something I know about having previously worked in a Coroner's Office. In the 1990's there was a scheme called the Liverpool Pathway (not the Liverpool Heighway, totally different thing). Basically it allowed senior medical staff to allow certain patients to pass away more speedily than if treatment was continued. The problems with it were that some people naturally thought that it was being done for financial reasons, not humane ones. Then there was the Shipman enquiry that tightened up on doctors being able to certify causes of death. What happened in my part of the world is that some elderly and chronically ill patients were starved to death or had life prolonging treatment stopped after the medical staff had discussed the situation with relatives and reached an agreement. 

I only found out about this by accident when both Coroner's Officers were off work at the same time and I had to deputise for both. It had obviously been going on for some time and the Coroner was fully aware as were the town's Pathologists.  Whilst I am in agreement with the principle of the scheme I can see issues where for example relatives want to speed up the inheritance process or doctors want to clear beds. The decision has to be made for the right reasons. And that applies to euthanasia. Care needs to be taken to prevent pressure being put on people to opt for assisted suicide for the wrong reasons and I don't really know how that can be ensured. 

 

[Bobtheferret 1,248]

The way I’ve always thought about is if your dog was in pain and had no chance of recovering you would be called cruel for keeping it alive and not having it pts. What makes people any different? More understanding makes it even crueler frankly. Obviously you need to be careful about how it’s used with sage guards etc but we must introduce this as a country imo. 

[EDDIE B 3,162]

Ali -G has a valid point here I believe