It's The Pain Management, Stupid

Here’s a great piece on why assisted suicide and euthanasia are not the answer to those who are suffering at the end of life. Pain management works, it’s just not practiced as much as it needs to be.

Authentic Compassion: Pain Treatment at the End of Life

In 1994, Dr. Charles Cleeland authored a study that found that 42% of cancer patients with pain were receiving inadequate therapy for their pain. This led to the Health and Human Services (HHS) guidelines for more aggressive pain management and the ubiquitous question about your level of pain “on a scale of 1 to 10” every time you visit the doctor for any reason.

The interest in pain management was actually a response to the push for legalized assisted suicide. Advocates of assisted suicide claimed that uncontrolled pain justified aiding cancer patients to end their lives. At the time, there were proclamations by medical experts that 90% of pain could be easily treated and there was no risk of addiction for those who were actually in pain.

So where are we nearly two decades later? more

UK: Did Poor Pain Management Lead To Suicide?

I find it hard to believe that this man’s pain could not have been controlled. I think it much more likely that he wasn’t getting proper pain management and care – another NHS failure, I’ll bet.

Former model hanged himself after suffering years of crippling toothache

A former model hanged himself after suffering years of crippling toothache, an inquest heard today.

Dorian Thomson, 41, who worked as a model and as an art director for a Japanese fashion company, suffered from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which causes increased elasticity in muscles and joint tissue.

But the court heard Mr Thomson, of north west London, suffered from toothache in every tooth for six years which he believed was triggered by a visit to the dentist, Westminster Coroner's Court heard. more

No, Not Death, PAIN MANAGEMENT

More pro-deather poster people . . .  the latest UK case is a woman who wants assisted suicide because she has chronic pain. There's NO MENTION in the article that what's really the problem is poor pain management. There's absolutely no need for her to be in the kind of pain described in the article.

Dystonia sufferer Jackie Meacock wants assisted suicide law change

A Brighton woman with the neurological movement disorder dystonia has called for changes in the law to help people seeking to end their life at home.

Although Jackie Meacock's condition is not life-threatening, the constant pain it causes has made her want to die. more

Why Didn't Aussie Woman Get Surgery To Ease Her Pain???

Here's more on the Aussie suicide case posted below. I that report, Inger Rijn was refused pain meds that made her suffer. Can we say poor pain management? Now we learn that her pain was from a torn hip tendon. Excuse me? Seems like this is a fairly simple condition that could have easily been corrected with surgery. I don’t know why she didn't have surgery, but one explanation might be that in the Aussie socialized medical system, she was judged not worthy of the surgery. Stay tuned.

Assisted suicide case sparks law reform calls

The case of a Melbourne man who helped his seriously ill wife commit suicide has prompted calls for reform laws in cases of medically based euthanasia.

Victor Rijn was yesterday sentenced to a three-year good behaviour bond after pleading guilty to inciting his 70-year-old wife Inger to commit suicide.

Before she took her own life, Ms Rijn suffered pain from a torn tendon in her right hip that was so bad she had trouble walking, sitting and lying down. more

Poor Pain Management No Excuse For Suicide

This Aussie story is supposed to support legalized killing, but it inadvertently reveals why some people want to die - poor pain management. Let me repeat myself: In almost every case, effective pain management can keep people comfortable until natural death.

Court mercy in suicide help case

WHEN Inger Rijn was last year refused a third dose of Panadeine at hospital in a last-ditch bid to manage chronic pain, her mind was made up. She would take her own life.

Doctors at the Cabrini Hospital emergency department told the 70-year-old mother of three that she could not have another injection because ''we've given you enough to kill a horse''. Mrs Rijn felt no better. more

Empirical Answer To The Pain Argument: Good Pain Management, Not Death

We have to keep repeating, and repeating, and repeating: Every time the pro-deathers shriek that we need medicalized killing because people are in unbearable pain, we need to counter with a very simple empirical fact: In almost every case, people are suffering because of POOR PAIN MANAGEMENT and a lack of POOR PALLIATIVE CARE.

Euthanasia pushes past pain barrier

WHEN David Scott Mathers escaped a jail sentence for suffocating his chronically ill partner, much was made of her pain. Eva Griffith had wanted to die and her considerable pain was referred to 16 times last week in Justice Peter Hall's judgment, which concluded the manslaughter to which Mathers had pleaded guilty was ''a selfless act born out of the love the offender held for her''.

In Australia it is often assumed pain would be the main reason for voluntary euthanasia, or assisted suicide, yet evidence from the US suggests Griffith's circumstances were unusual. more

Antidote To Assisted Suicide: Good Pain Management & Hospice

I never thought that I'd agree with UK pro-deather Debbie Purdy, but here she's right - if people with medical disabilities aren’t able to get medications they need, they may well consider more drastic actions like assisted suicide and euthanasia. That’s why medical pain management and hospice are so important.

Access to MS treatment criticised

Multiple sclerosis patients could be driven to suicide by a lack of access to treatment, a campaigner will tell MPs.

Debbie Purdy says that guidance on assisted suicide issued in 2009 is being "undermined" because the quality of life of MS sufferers is being damaged by inconsistent access to medication. more

Good For Azerbaijan For Emphasizing Palliative Care

Good for Azerbaijan – they’re looking to put a national effort into palliative care, as opposed to what the pro-deathers all over the workd want – euthanasia anytime for any reason.

Necessary to adopt law on palliative assistance , bioethics – Rabiyyat Aslanova

It is already time in Azerbaijan to adopt a law on palliative assistance and bioethics.

The statement came from chairman of the human rights committee of Milli Majlis Rabiyyat Aslanova speaking Tuesday at the practical seminar “Program of palliative assistance in Azerbaijan and main bioethics principles” at the Human Rights Institute of the National Academy of Science of Azerbaijan. more

Aussie Media In The Tank For Pro-Deather Lies About Pain & Suffering

OK, this stuff is going to make me pull my hair out, really. If you ask people “Would you rather die than experience excruciating pain at the end of your life?” guess what they're likely to say: “Yes, yes!! Nobody wants to suffer.” Nobody asks this question: “If your terrible suffering could be significantly controlled or eliminated, would you choose euthanasia or assisted suicide over a natural death?” Why isn’t the question asked this way? Because the pro-deathers would lose a major weapon I their arsenal, that’s why.

Support steadfast for death to ease pain

THREE out of four Australians believe voluntary euthanasia should be legal, a poll has found.

But despite levels of endorsement that have hovered between 75 and 85 per cent for many years, pro-euthanasia reformers admit to having been consistently outgunned by their opponents, resulting in five failed attempts to pass legislation in two years.

The latest poll by The Australia Institute found 75 per cent of people agreed that if someone with a terminal illness who is experiencing unrelievable suffering asks to die, a doctor should be allowed to assist them to die. Thirteen per cent did not agree and 12 per cent were not sure. more

Canadian Pro-Deather: Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Two interesting points about this Canadian story. First, the woman who died (naturally) was a pro-deather who was charged a while back with aiding and abetting two suicides. Why didn’t she choose that for herself? Second, it’s another case of people becoming pro-death after watching someone “suffer horribly.” Do dying people sometimes suffer horribly? Well yes, some do, but that’s because the boneheaded medicos aren’t up to speed on state-of-the-art palliative care. Blame the medicos if you will, but don’t use these difficult circumstances to justify killing.

B.C. woman acquitted in assisted suicides has died

VICTORIA • Evelyn Martens, the Vancouver Island woman who made national headlines when she was charged in 2002 — and later acquitted — of aiding in the suicide of two women, has died. She was 79.

Ms. Martens’ son, Les Poelzer, said his mother died late Sunday in Misericordia Hospital in Edmonton from complications likely from a gall bladder infection.

She had been visiting another son in Hinton, Alta., during the previous week when she began to feel ill, he said.

In October 2004, Ms. Martens went on trial for helping two women to kill themselves. Both offences carry a maximum sentence of 14 years. She was acquitted after 14 days. more

Good Pain Management: Yes Euthanasia: No

Yes, yes, yes. We need better palliative care and pain management for pain and discomfort in people suffering at the end of their lives, NOT euthanasia.

We should not tolerate inadequate pain management for terminally ill

While Australia has not yet had its first case of a doctor and/or a hospital being sued for inadequate pain management, there have been several successful cases in the US and it can be only a matter of time before the first case appears in the Australian courts.

In fact, it could be sooner rather than later based on some recent examples I have observed with my colleagues, where inadequate pain management for terminally ill older people and a refusal to follow the instructions of their legally authorised decision makers have placed treating medical practitioners, nurses and hospitals at risk of a lawsuit. more

Pro-Deather Old Lies In Tasmania

Ya know, I’m getting really, REALLY tired of the “pain and suffering” pro-deather point. If people die in unbearable pain and suffering, it’s because their doltish doctors are pretty clueless, usually, about palliative care and advanced pain management. They trot this argument out because the average reader, uninformed, swallows the lie hook, line, and death clinic.

Euthanasia Bill given support

TASMANIANS deserve the right to die with dignity, says a national euthanasia advocate.

YourLastRight chairman Neil Francis arrived in Tasmania yesterday in a bid to rally support for Tasmania's Dying With Dignity Bill, which is currently subject to public consultation.

Mr Francis said passing the legislation could give terminally ill Tasmanians the option to die without pain and suffering. more

Pain Should Be Managed, Not An Excuse For Killing

Man has severe pain for a number of years. Dignitas won’t help him die, so he eventually does it himself. The pro-deathers will spin this as the reason assisted suicide should be available everywhere. However, they don’t go near the obvious question: Why wasn’t his pain managed? I’m sure it could have been.

Man rejected by Dignitas killed himself with tablets

RETIRED international civil servant John Jenkinson took a fatal overdose after the Dignitas Clinic in Switzerland declined to help him end his life, an inquest heard.

The 65-year-old, from Cheltenham, committed suicide because he had suffered from severe pain for five years and wanted to end it, the Gloucestershire coroner was told. more

Here's The Truth: We Need Good Pain Management, Not Killing

Yes, yes, and yes again – what we need is good palliative care, especially state-of-the-art pain management. If we take the pain argument away from the pro0-deathers, they have little else to support their point of view.

We need a war on pain - It's time society faced death head-on, neuroscientist says

Kathleen Foley is a neuroscientist and a prominent authority on pain.

As the Olympics of Pain wraps up in Montreal and Quebecers prepare to debate the controversial issue of physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia starting Tuesday, neuroscientist Kathleen Foley says it's about time society faced death head-on.

In an interview with The Gazette at the 13th World Congress on Pain in Montreal yesterday, Foley, of the renowned Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York and adviser to the World Health Organization cancer and palliative care unit, said euthanasia has fallen off the radar of most countries. more