Euthanasia......again

Former Member

Story HERE

Here we have a man who is terminally ill, he has been told he has up to 12 weeks to live after bladder cancer spread to his lungs, kidneys and abdomen.

He wants the law changed so terminally ill people can choose when to die and have a pain free death.

What are your views on this story ?

Former Member

Re: Euthanasia......again

Originally posted by BeckyBoo
Story HERE

Here we have a man who is terminally ill, he has been told he has up to 12 weeks to live after bladder cancer spread to his lungs, kidneys and abdomen.

He wants the law changed so terminally ill people can choose when to die and have a pain free death.

What are your views on this story ?

if i ever end up wanting to make that decision for myself i will and all who know me will make the phone call for me ...buy me the heroin and supply the syringe.
then ...after a few farewells i'll be hitting up and shuffling off this mortal coil.
but ...as for law changes i realy canna make me mind up.

Former Member

while it could be potentially exploited by malicious people, on the merits of goodness i think the law should be changed

on another note the subject title did make me wonder
"euthanasia......again"

as far as i was aware it could only happen once

Former Member

Originally posted by MrG

as far as i was aware it could only happen once

awkward sod!

Former Member

Originally posted by MrG
on another note the subject title did make me wonder
"euthanasia......again"

Sorry, its just i had a similar thread a while back, so thought euthanasia......again as an apt title

My views are if someone is terminally ill like this man then just please let him die in peace. Dont let him have to suffer pain, if he wants to die and he is of sound mind then let him die free from pain......its his life, his choice, its what he wants and its what id want if I was in the same boat.

Former Member

Originally posted by BeckyBoo
Sorry, its just i had a similar thread a while back, so thought euthanasia......again as an apt title

My views are if someone is terminally ill like this man then just please let him die in peace. Dont let him have to suffer pain, if he wants to die and he is of sound mind then let him die free from pain......its his life, his choice, its what he wants and its what id want if I was in the same boat.

/me hugs becky

i agree with you

Former Member

Re: Re: Euthanasia......again

Originally posted by morrocan roll
if i ever end up wanting to make that decision for myself i will and all who know me will make the phone call for me ...buy me the heroin and supply the syringe.
then ...after a few farewells i'll be hitting up and shuffling off this mortal coil.
but ...as for law changes i realy canna make me mind up.

That's all very well, but this guy probably has all the morphine he wants - plenty to finish him off. You come to realise when you look into euthanasia that it is not so much the relief from pain and suffering that people are seeking, but the passing on of the responsibility to someone else. Suicide is not illegal, but euthanasia is somehow more justifiable.

Former Member

Re: Re: Re: Euthanasia......again

Originally posted by Kentish
That's all very well, but this guy probably has all the morphine he wants - plenty to finish him off. You come to realise when you look into euthanasia that it is not so much the relief from pain and suffering that people are seeking, but the passing on of the responsibility to someone else. Suicide is not illegal, but euthanasia is somehow more justifiable.

the thing with the morphine is they will deprive him of the chance of getting enough to finnish it ...with me ...i'd have no problem getting enough heroin to leave all the pain behind ...and i'd be doing it myself.

Former Member

Originally posted by morrocan roll
the thing with the morphine is they will deprive him of the chance of getting enough to finnish it ...with me ...i'd have no problem getting enough heroin to leave all the pain behind ...and i'd be doing it myself.

Not in my experience.

I'm generally anti-euthanasia and ambivalent of suicide, and I'm anti-euthanasia partly because I personally want no part in taking someone else's life.

Former Member

Originally posted by Kentish
Not in my experience.

I'm generally anti-euthanasia and ambivalent of suicide, and I'm anti-euthanasia partly because I personally want no part in taking someone else's life.

easy to say ...have you ever seen anyone dslowly dying in absolute agony?
how much pain could you cope with cos i'm afraid the drugs don't always work for long.
i'd go ...cos i don't like pain and i couldn't bare to see the people around me feeling so helpless.
one injection of heroin it would be over in a couple of minutes.

Former Member

i supposee i've had this idea that euthanasia is bad idea driven into me since i was a kid so i'm more inclined in letting a person live the course of their life, so their fate or destiny can be fufilled, however i can definately see where pro-euthanasia people are coming from and sometimes would be more inclined their way, depends what my mood is.

Former Member

Originally posted by morrocan roll
easy to say ...have you ever seen anyone dslowly dying in absolute agony?
how much pain could you cope with cos i'm afraid the drugs don't always work for long.
i'd go ...cos i don't like pain and i couldn't bare to see the people around me feeling so helpless.
one injection of heroin it would be over in a couple of minutes.

Not first hand, but yes I've seen patients at the end of life. Like I say, I wouldn't ever want to be asked to inject a lethal dose, but people are entitled to take their own lives.

Progress in palliative care will only continue so long as people are able to live out their natural lives without the pressure of euthanasia hanging over them. Not many people die in unbearable pain nowadays.

Former Member

Originally posted by turlough
depends what my mood is.

That's the problem. Lord Joffe's bill going through the committee stages at Parliament would make "living wills" legally binding - but the thing is people often change their minds about what treatment they would agree to when their circumstances change. I know of several terminally ill patients who had made living wills declining all "active medical treatment" who, when asked, were willing to undergo invasive investigations of symptoms that were reducing their quality of life but not actually killing them.

Point being, people change and it's easy to say that euthanasia is the answer when it's someone else in that position, but a lot of terminally ill people aren't asking for an artificial death, just pain and symptom relief in their final days.

Former Member

Originally posted by Kentish
Not many people die in unbearable pain nowadays.

i'm afraid they do! thats why this question is forever coming back.

Former Member

Originally posted by Kentish


Point being, people change and it's easy to say that euthanasia is the answer when it's someone else in that position, but a lot of terminally ill people aren't asking for an artificial death, just pain and symptom relief in their final days.

but they dont wanna be doped up so they aint got a clue where they are.

If I was in this position of having 12 weeks to live and we KNOW that id deteriate rapidly then just give me enough to put me out of my misery.

Former Member

Originally posted by morrocan roll
i'm afraid they do! thats why this question is forever coming back.

Depends how you define unbearable I suppose and how much pain we expect in death. Whoever said death was pleasant? Palliative care will only improve if there is a demand for it, and that includes painkillers and other forms of symptom relief.

Former Member

Originally posted by BeckyBoo
but they dont wanna be doped up so they aint got a clue where they are.

That's simply not accurate.

If I was in this position of having 12 weeks to live and we KNOW that id deteriate rapidly then just give me enough to put me out of my misery.

Fine, take it all, but don't force me to do it for you...

Former Member

Originally posted by Kentish
Depends how you define unbearable I suppose and how much pain we expect in death. Whoever said death was pleasant? Palliative care will only improve if there is a demand for it, and that includes painkillers and other forms of symptom relief.

there are oce strong and able bodied and proud people dying in agony right now along with awful sickness and crapping themselves etc ...for some ...the sickness is worse than the pain. they only have months or weeks left and realy cannot cope being reduced to this. i'm talking people of all ages here.

Former Member

Originally posted by Kentish
That's simply not accurate.

Fine, take it all, but don't force me to do it for you...

Herein lies the problem. If doctors won't do it, ie won't administer a lethal overdose, then who is qualified?

Former Member

Originally posted by Fiend_85
Herein lies the problem. If doctors won't do it, ie won't administer a lethal overdose, then who is qualified?

in my own case it would be me ...will be me if i'm ever in that position.

Former Member

and if you are not physically capable?

Former Member

Originally posted by Fiend_85
Herein lies the problem. If doctors won't do it, ie won't administer a lethal overdose, then who is qualified?

jaysus it's not that hard to kill someone. just get someone else to do it and get a medical doctor to supervise.

Former Member

Originally posted by morrocan roll
there are oce strong and able bodied and proud people dying in agony right now along with awful sickness and crapping themselves etc ...for some ...the sickness is worse than the pain. they only have months or weeks left and realy cannot cope being reduced to this. i'm talking people of all ages here.

I know that. And their care will only improve if it is allowed to exist. At what point does someone decide that they want to die? A lot of people have been in extraordinary pain which has passed with successful treatment and I believe terminally ill patients have the right to symptom relief without resorting to death.

Would be start offering euthanasia those who suffer with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia. Or those with disabilities that cause them constant pain, or depression that causes them to be housebound?

We as a society have become sanitised to death and suffering, which are part and parcel of life.

Former Member

Originally posted by Fiend_85
and if you are not physically capable?

i hadn't thought about that!

Former Member

Originally posted by Kentish
I know that. And their care will only improve if it is allowed to exist. At what point does someone decide that they want to die? A lot of people have been in extraordinary pain which has passed with successful treatment and I believe terminally ill patients have the right to symptom relief without resorting to death.

Would be start offering euthanasia those who suffer with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia. Or those with disabilities that cause them constant pain, or depression that causes them to be housebound?

We as a society have become sanitised to death and suffering, which are part and parcel of life.

i did say at the begining that i wasn't sure about it ...
for some people kent there aren't any improvements to their pain relief or other care available.

Former Member

Originally posted by Kentish
That's simply not accurate.

Well how does it work then ?

Former Member

Originally posted by Fiend_85
Herein lies the problem. If doctors won't do it, ie won't administer a lethal overdose, then who is qualified?

Some doctors would. Shipman probably wouldn't have objected.

Former Member

Originally posted by Kentish
A lot of people have been in extraordinary pain which has passed with successful treatment and I believe terminally ill patients have the right to symptom relief without resorting to death.

What if they only have a matter of weeks, days ?

Former Member

Originally posted by morrocan roll
i did say at the begining that i wasn't sure about it ...
for some people kent there aren't any improvements to their pain relief or other care available.

I agree, but we will only improve our care of them if palliative care exists in the first place. With good care these days, pain really shouldn't be unbearable, but death is unpleasant even when hurried by euthanasia.

Former Member

Originally posted by BeckyBoo
What if they only have a matter of weeks, days ?

No, my point was that we offer pain relief to those who have acute pain, and terminally ill patients are entitled to the same standard of care.

Former Member

So just supposing I have a terminal illness and I am in pain, we know I will die within lets say 12 weeks.........how would I be treated ? Would I be in any discomfort ? Would I be totally aware of what was going on around me ?

You see when my Dad was ill he didnt know where he was and even though he had pain releif he was still in pain. (he is better now though he was just very poorly)