Euthanasia a hot topic

EUTHANASIA advocate Philip Nitschke will meet Bendigo residents on Saturday.Dr Nitschke will hold a public meeting and then a closed seminar on voluntary euthanasia including what drugs are accessible.He said questions were increasingly raised about Alzheimer’s disease and dementia and it tended to be a condition that limited people’s choices.“In terms of Alzheimer’s there are higher risks that voluntary euthanasia will be interpreted by the courts as an act of murder,” he said.“There are a lot of pitfalls and traps.“Recent court cases show even the law has difficulty addressing the circumstances of those unfortunate enough to find themselves in front of judge and jury. The answer is not clear.”Dr Nitschke said he didn’t expect opposition to the meeting and didn’t mind if people with a different view attended.”Dr Nitschke is the founder of Exit International, a voluntary euthanasia advocacy organisation. In 1996 he became the first physician in the world to administer a legal, lethal voluntary injection under the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act of the Northern Territory. The closed seminar will also discuss the results of recent laboratory drug testing commissioned by Exit International which have shown that the drugs imported from China are more than 95 per cent pure.“With the increasing trend among the elderly of importing euthanasia drugs from overseas, verification of the purity of these drugs is paramount,” he said.“Under Freedom Of Information we know that there have been over 20 interceptions of these drugs by Australian Customs this year.“While this is worrying, I suspect it is the tip of the iceberg as we have accounts mailed to us regularly by people saying they successfully received their drugs but are still asking ‘how do I know they are real?’“Luckily, most people who buy their drugs mail order will never use them. “However, there is an enormous sense of relief which comes from knowing that the option of a peaceful death is available, should the need ever arise. That is, if one’s health or quality of life should deteriorate to the point that death becomes the desired course.”He said the organisation had a number of members in Bendigo and it was important to keep them up to speed. The free public meeting ‘Voluntary Euthanasia: Making Choices in the context of Alzheimer’s and Dementia’ will be held at the Bendigo Bank Theatre at 11am on Saturday. Attendees of the closed seminar must be over 50 and of sound mind.