Police questioning about euthanasia “insensitive”
The director of Exit International, Dr Philip Nitschke said today the action of Port Augusta police in questioning Debbie Paterson immediately after the death of her husband Ken, and asking about whether assistance to die had been provided, was insensitive and unnecessary.
Dr Nitschke said he had been in contact with Debbie for some weeks leading to Ken’s death from cancer and had given her information and advice by phone. Debbie had rung Dr Nitschke at 6am on Thursday morning concerned about Ken’s worsening condition. He died shortly after.
Dr Nitschke said that the actions of palliative care staff in reporting to the police that there had been contact with Dr Nitschke, exceeded their authority, and prompted the police to question Debbie within a few hours of Ken’s death.
“The police should have exercised greater sensitivity at this particularly difficult time for Debbie”, Dr Nitschke said speaking from Adelaide.
“The actions of palliative care staff in notifying the police of my phone calls are also inappropriate and the staff involved should be asked to explain their actions. Reporting on patients and their families to the police is not part of the provision of good end of life care and damages the relationship between patients and the medical profession”.
Dr Nitschke called for an enquiry into the incident and said he would be travelling to Port Augusta to talk to Debbie about the incident.
10 comments:
I agree entirely. Better cooperation between those who give hands-on care and those who make end-of-life decisions should avoid any similar involvement of law-enforcement. Wise end-of-life medical decisions are not police matters. The police have no training in medical ethics.
James Leonard Park,
advocate of the right-to-die with careful safeguards.
So, I do not really consider it may have effect.
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