Article by Dr Pravin Thevathasan
Prue and Danny's Death Road Trip (16/2/23, Channel 4) This
was fully worth the watch. Prue is in favour of assisted suicide. Her
son Danny, a conservative MP, is against. Prue is partly in favour
because she feels that people with terminal illness are "a burden" on
others. Danny interviews a medical expert who believes that not enough
research has been done on the drugs used to bring about death. Assisted
suicide is like death by drowning, he says. Prue and Danny visit
Vancouver in Canada where 7.5% of all deaths are by assisted suicide
and euthanasia.
In Canada, over 90% of people opt for euthanasia rather than assisted suicide because doctor knows best. Prue
interviews Dr Stefanie Green who has carried out 300 euthanasia
terminations. According to the Daily Mail (8 January, 2023) she has
helped kill a man who was incapable of choosing assisted suicide. It
would appear that there are no real safeguards in Canada. You can
choose euthanasia for reasons of poverty, poor housing and lack of
access to basic medical care. Danny interviews an anti-euthanasia
campaigner who tells of a patient who was offered euthanasia because he
was thought to be terminally ill. The autopsy showed this was not the
case. Prue looks very uncomfortable after hearing this.
A
man is interviewed who wants euthanasia as he has chronic mental
illness and PTSD. He finds life intolerable. As Prue wisely notes: "All these words are
so subjective. Intolerable for you may not mean intolerable for me."
Prue and Danny agree that in Canada if a patient is suicidal, there is
a danger that the assisted suicide squad will be called and not
psychiatric services.
After
their road trip, Danny remains firmly opposed to euthanasia and
assisted suicide.
Prue wants the option of an assisted suicide for herself if she has a terminal illness and she only has months to live. But the Canada experience has left her shaken. She does not want the UK to follow a Canadian law on assisted suicide.
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