X-Message-Number: 6976 Date: Wed, 25 Sep 1996 12:14:03 -0700 From: David Brandt-Erichsen <> Subject: First legal euthanasia occurs in Australia The following collection of articles began on the front page of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (Sept 26, 1996) ----------------------------------- Mercy death world first By GAY ALCORN in Darwin A Darwin man has become the first person in the world to die using euthanasia legislation. The man, who had suffered prostate cancer for five years, died last Sunday afternoon in his home using drugs administered by a "death machine". The computer-linked machine pumps barbiturates, followed by a muscle relaxant, into the bloodstream. The man's wife was with him, as was his doctor, Dr Philip Nitschke. The couple had no children and the man had asked to remain anonymous. Dr Nitschke declined to comment but said a press conference would be held today. He has four other patients waiting to make use of the legislation. The death brought strong condemnation from religious leaders and pro-life groups last night. The head of the Catholic Church in Australia, Cardinal Clancy, said it was a "shameful day for Australia". Archbishop Goodhew of the Sydney Anglican diocese said: "It is a very sad thing ... the consequences may not be known for another 25 years and we may be very sorry." Rabbi Moshe Gutnick, president of the Rabbinical Council of NSW, said the Jewish community viewed suicide through euthanasia the same way it viewed murder. A spokeswoman for the Australian Federation of Right to Life Associations said: "I feel very sad that we are the first nation in the whole world to have voluntary euthanasia." However, the State Member for Manly, Dr Peter Macdonald, said terminally ill people would now hopefully feel more confident in seeking assisted suicides. The death is the first under the NT's Rights of the Terminally Ill Act, passed in May last year. It enables a terminally ill patient to request a doctor to administer a lethal drug or provide it for self-administration. The man's death came as the legislation faces its strongest threat from a Federal private member's bill introduced by a Victorian backbencher, Mr Kevin Andrews, which would overturn the NT law. The act also faces a hearing in the High Court in November. The man, a former builder and pilot in his mid-60s, contacted Dr Nitschke several months ago requesting euthanasia. Under the act, a patient is required to obtain the signatures of a doctor, a specialist in the illness who must confirm the diagnosis and prognosis, and a psychiatrist who must state that the patient is not suffering treatable clinical depression. It is understood that at 11.15am on Friday, August 30, Dr Nitschke, the patient and a NT specialist signed the required forms in the specialist's office. No local psychiatrist would assist and an eminent Sydney psychiatrist, Dr John Ellard, flew to Darwin on September 7 and signed the form the next day. There was then a nine-day "cooling off" period. Euthanasia is sanctioned by law nowhere else in the world. In the Netherlands, where it has been practised for two decades, it is still an offence. But a doctor can avoid prosecution if strict guidelines are followed. DEBATE From the patient's hand: My pain was too great By MATTHEW RUSSELL and LEONIE LAMONT A letter written by the first person to die under the euthanasia legislation describes the law as the most compassionate in Australia, according to a spokesman for the coalition of organisations for voluntary euthanasia, Dr Robert Marr. He said the patient describes his illness and his pain in the letter. He says palliative care was no longer enough to ease his suffering. But the head of the Catholic Church in Australia, Cardinal Edward Clancy, said it was a "shameful day for Australia". "The legislation has met with opposition and revulsion across the nation and is currently under challenge," he said in a statement. "This first case of legalised euthanasia in all the world is an act of reckless disregard for the convictions of people around the globe and will be widely condemned. "At least this deplorable act may serve to bring the stark reality of euthanasia fully home to the consciousness of all Australians, and further instances of this ugly evil may yet be prevented." Last night, the Vatican said it had no official comment. Dr Marr said: "We want all dying patients to have the right to legally request and receive medical assistance to end their suffering by shortening their life after they have tried palliative care, and the fact that this dying patient was able to use the NT law we hope ... will enable other dying patients to also have that choice." Mr Bruce Meagher, president of the AIDS Council of NSW, said: "Our response is not thatwe are happy that someone hasdied but that the legislation isavailable to someone who needed and wanted it is a very goodthing and if this has occurredwithout any complications." Mr Keith Wollard, federal president of the Australian Medical Association, said: "We don't believe that euthanasia is a good thing because it legalises the killing of patients and that is dangerous." Mrs Heather Johnson of the Council for the Ageing, said: "We don't have a policy on this because we believe that it's a personal choice and there should be no pressure put on them in any form at all to make that decision." The spokeswoman for the Australian Federation of Right to Life Associations said legal euthanasia was inevitable following the NT Government's vote last year. "I feel very sad that we are the first nation in the whole world to have voluntary euthanasia," said Ms Kath Harrigan. "I suppose Dr Nitschke will be very satisfied he has helped kill someone." The executive director of the lobby group Euthanasia No, Tony Burke, said: "There are so many ways of responding to someone in crisis. It is tragic that a lethal injection was the option taken." Archbishop Harry Goodhew of the Sydney Anglican diocese said it was sad "to think someone was in a circumstance where they felt depressed enough to need to do this". "But it is a very sad thing to openly, consciously and publicly breach the protection we put around human life." HOW LAW PASSED Dying cabbie failed at the last hurdle By ADAM HARVEY In June this year Max Bell went to Darwin to die. The retired taxi driver had stomach cancer and had planned to be the first Australian to legally commit suicide. He was supported by his GP, Dr Philip Nitschke, but could not find a specialist willing to help him. Mr Bell died of cancer in Broken Hill hospital last month. Under the Northern Territory's Rights of the Terminally Ill Act, Mr Bell had failed at the last hurdle and could not find two specialist doctors willing to help. The act had been passed by the Territory's Parliament in May last year but did not come into effect until July this year. Before the first person died under the act it had been condemned by the Vatican and local Churches, opposed by the leaders of the three main Australian political parties and subject to several court challenges and injunctions. It was introduced in the Territory's Parliament by Mr Marshall Perron, who resigned as Chief Minister just 75 minutes before debate began on the bill. The 25 parliamentarians had a "free" vote on the issue and finally passed it in May 1995 after adding about 50 amendments. That turned out to be the easy part. Court injunctions stalled the bill until the middle of this year, and euthanasia supporters said that even if it was legalised the amendments would make a doctor-assisted suicide almost impossible. They require that a GP, a specialist and a psychiatrist see the patient and agree that there is no cure to the patient's illness, and the person is suffering "unacceptable" pain. It would also take at least nine days before someone could end his life after making an initial request to do so. Death is by lethal injection and is administered when the terminally ill patient hits a button on a computer, confirming that they wish to die. Three doctors' signatures are required before a patient can be assisted to die under the NT law. Mr Bell could not find a psychiatrist to confirm that he was not suffering a "treatable clinical depression in respect of the illness". The law may yet be overruled. A Federal Government backbencher, Mr Kevin Andrews, has introduced a private member's bill to override it. MIXED REACTIONS Shocked MPs split over man's decision to die By CRAIG SKEHAN and DAVID HUMPHRIES State and Federal leaders were taken by surprise last night as news of the world's first legally assisted suicide emerged from Darwin. Told of the death, State National Party leader, Mr Ian Armstrong, said: "I'm just totally shocked. I've got a feeling of total hollowness." The euthanasia law was "never likely to see the light of day in this Parliament", he said. However, euthanasia supporter and Manly MP, Dr Peter Macdonald, said terminally ill people would hopefully feel more confident in seeking assisted suicides. The death also meant that the Northern Territory legislation is workable, he said. "One can make the act so rigorous that there was some concern that it would not be able to function." A spokesman for the Prime Minister, Mr Howard, stressed that Government members would have a conscience vote on Victorian Federal Liberal MP Mr Kevin Andrews's private member's bill seeking to overturn the NT law. Commonwealth officials said there would only be direct Federal Ministerial responsibilities if the bill was passed, which appears likely. This would up the political ante by allowing Commonwealth prosecutions to be launched. Officials said news of the first death under the NT act came as a surprise to the Federal Government. A spokesman for the Federal Attorney-General, Mr Williams, said "as the law now stands" the death in Darwin is a matter for the Northern Territory Government. This was in reference to the fact that the NT Supreme Court had upheld the law, but the ruling is to be subject to an appeal. The national executive of the ALP last month passed a resolution, moved by the Federal leader, Mr Beazley, and seconded by his Senate leader, Senator John Faulkner, that Labor's key policy-making body between national conferences "resolves that the matter of euthanasia can be freely debated at any State or Federal forum of the ALP but any decision reached is not binding on any member of the party". Meanwhile the Liberal backbencher, Mr Jeremy Kinross, has given notice of his intention to move a private member's bill supporting the practice. PSYCHIATRIST SPEAKS 'I played one part in the process' By DAVID PASSEY Dr John Ellard, the Sydney psychiatrist who certified that the world's first patient to die legally of euthanasia was not suffering from severe depression, would not comment specifically on the case last night. "To comment would be a breach of patient-doctor confidentiality," Dr Ellard said. "I played one part in the process, which was to certify that this person was not suffering from severe depression. Of course, that was not examined in isolation." Dr Ellard did, however, outline his support for the principle of euthanasia on the grounds that he believed it was inhumane to prolong extreme and unnecessary suffering. "Nobody should believe in this day and age that when someone is dying and suffering enormous discomfort when their life is at an end that this should be continued," he said. "Euthanasia has been going on since medicine began, that is self-evident. "It is not possible to legislate for all possible medical situations. That is beyond the wit of man." Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=6976