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Professor Martin Connoll spoke to Breakfast about the euthanasia debate, and said he has never seen euthanasia practised in New Zealand. - Source: Breakfast -
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A specialist who has worked with geriatric patients for two decades, has said he has never seen any doctor perform euthanasia.
On Tuesday night's Close Up programme Dr John Pollock, who is terminally ill, claimed many doctors are already practising euthanasia.
"It's called pain control or anxiety control, but the reality is many of the doctors who do this are deliberately shortening the lifespan of the patient, quite rightly," claimed Pollock.
But on Breakfast today, Professor Martin Connolly from North Shore Hospital's geriatric unit, said he has never known of it.
"Clearly there has to be a distinction made between active euthanasia - that is, bringing a patient's life to an end on purpose... and a person deciding not to have active treatment because they believe that treatment would be futile. But that is not the same as active euthanasia," Connolly told Pippa Wetzell.
"If patients decline treatment, then that's something we respect. But in terms of ending a patient's life on purpose, that is not something I have ever come across."
He said drugs used for controlled pain, can sometimes have a side-effect of suppressing respiration and in some cases could bring hasten, as a side-effect, the time of death.
"But we're not talking by weeks or months, we talking about days or hours. And that is not the intention when we give the analgesic. If we had drugs that didn't have those side effects, we would use those drugs instead."
The debate over euthanasia has been reignited after Dr Pollock called for people to have the right to decide when they die.
A TVNZ poll has found 76% of respondents want voluntary euthanasia to be legalised.
Professor Connolly said it's a helpful debate to have, regardless of whether there is any law change.
"It's an ethical issue and ethical issues are talked about in public from time to time, so the debate is something we welcome," said Connolly.
But Connolly said irrespective of whether people believe euthanasia is acceptable, issues surround the controls and safeguards of the practice.
"The average age of the patients I work with is the mid 80s, and most of them are perfectly competent to make those decisions, but some are not. They are vulnerable, and have many competing emotional interests, particularly when they are very ill, or if they have been ill for a long time.
"They may perceive themselves to be a burden to their family and in that case it's very difficult for them to make an informed and competent decision," Connolly said.
Professor Connolly said very few patients or their families ever actually raise euthanasia as an option - in his 20 years as a consultant, he said he could count the number of times on one hand.
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Post new commentroyalcourtier said on 2010-07-22 @ 20:02 NZDT: Report abusive post
The Dutch experience suggests that voluntary euthanasia would soon become a smokescreen allowing the murder of elderly relations by rapacious heirs, or rest homes eliminating troublesome patients. Then there are the mentally unwell who may not really understand what they say when they ask to be killed. The next stage would be not mean tested beenfits, but means testing to be allowed to live beyond a certain age....
Sayer said on 2010-07-22 @ 16:31 NZDT: Report abusive post
Thank you for your comment. Very enlightening and good to have some outside source to reference.
eboivo said on 2010-07-22 @ 10:30 NZDT: Report abusive post
ABSOLUTELY!!! WITHOUT ANYMORE MESSING ABOUT!!! Whats with this so called human race? You are born and try to do the best you can in your life just to suffer a horrible death in front of your family who love you; what's with your do gooder laws this is happening every day and everyone turns a blind eye and think oh well nothing can be done about, when something CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT!!! CHANGE THE LAW NOW!! is an animals life more important? it can be put out of its pain instantly?????
tuffpuppy said on 2010-07-22 @ 07:02 NZDT: Report abusive post
Yes, We look after our animals better then we do our friends or family members when they are dying. That is sad and ppl need to move on and let this happen.
felicityf said on 2010-07-22 @ 00:37 NZDT: Report abusive post
20 years ago my mother suffered an inoperable brain hemorrhage. She was going to die and we could only sit and watch as she bleed from the mouth and struggled to breath. She became progressively more 'distressed' as the day passed; then the nurses offered to give her medication to ease her breathing. Within a relatively short amount of time, her breathing slowed and she stopped breathing. These caring people helped her to die with less suffering over a shorter period of time. Were they wrong?