Three people smuggled lethal drugs into Australian hospitals last year so their loved ones could secretly take their own lives, eu\u00adthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke claims.<\/p>\n
The head of Exit International said the three patients were elderly and had serious illnesses when they took a lethal drug in their hos\u00adpital beds, while being cared for at the Royal Prince Alfred and Con\u00adcord hospitals in Sydney and the Austin hospital in Melbourne.<\/p>\n
In each case, a partner or adult child took the lethal drug to them in hospital, Dr Nitschke said. The patients had previously acquired the drug.<\/p>\n
Dr Nitschke, a former medical practitioner, said the three people took their drug overnight while no hospital staff were watch\u00ading. The next morning, their deaths were recorded with no suspicion about how they died.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn each one of those three cases, there have been no ques\u00adtions asked. It\u2019s not surprising, be\u00adcause they were very sick. The as\u00adsumption was that they just died,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The cases are now being used by Dr Nitschke in his workshops on assisted death. He said while many people fear they will not be able to take their own lives in hospitals or other institutions such as nursing homes, these recent stories show it can be done.<\/p>\n
However, he warned that if the relatives were caught smuggling a lethal drug into a hospital, they could be charged with criminal of\u00adfences including assisting a sui\u00adcide.<\/p>\n
Dr Nitschke recently tore up his medical licence after the Medical Board of Australia demanded he stop discussing suicide if he wanted to keep his medical registration. He has since con\u00adtinued his work with Exit In\u00adternational.<\/p>\n
Margaret Tighe, of Right to Life Australia, said it was appalling that Dr Nitschke was promoting the deaths. She said the hospitals should investigate them and boost their security.<\/p>\n
While spokespeople for the hos\u00adpitals said they did not know any\u00adthing about the deaths, a spokes\u00adman for New South Wales Health Minister Jillian Skinner said: \u201cAny matter of this nature should be referred to the appropriate agency, the police, and accompanied by details and evidence of the illegal activity.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for federal Health Minister Sussan Ley said she was \u201cdisturbed by any serious breach of accepted or ethical med\u00adical standards and this certainly falls into that category\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously our department will need to obtain more information from the relevant health offices in both states before we could com\u00adment in any detail,\u201d her spokesper\u00adson said.<\/p>\n
A spokeswoman for Victorian Health Minister Jill Hennessy would not comment on the repor\u00adted deaths, but said the Victorian government was introducing laws this year to give people more choice about the kind of medical care they want or do not want in the event of future illnesses such as cancer or dementia.<\/p>\n
The Australian Medical Associ\u00adation would not comment on the report, but Secretary of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, Lee Thomas, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is unfortunate that any person needs to resort to drastic measures to relieve their pain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOverwhelmingly, ANMF members support the right to die with dignity and many have been engaged in the dying with dignity move\u00adment,\u201d her statement said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Three people smuggled lethal drugs into Australian hospitals last year so their loved ones could secretly take their own lives, eu\u00adthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke claims. The head of Exit International said the three patients were elderly and had serious illnesses when they took a lethal drug in their hos\u00adpital beds, while being cared for at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n