Euthanasia • Assisted Suicide • Right-to-Die • Final Exit • Hemlock Society Founder Weblog

Blog now at http://assisted-dying.org

2006-02-25T20:00:00.000-08:00

The blog maintained by Derek Humphry is now up and running at http://assisted-dying.org.

This blog site at http://self-deliverance.blogspot.com will be kept for archival purposes.

"Final Exit" book in 15th year

2006-02-01T14:15:00.000-08:00

The book “Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying” by Derek Humphry, has now been in continual print for 15 years. It is presently in its revised 3rd edition. With copies bought directly from ERGO comes a free ‘Addendum’ which updates the book to 2005.

It remains the only volume discussing frankly the approaches, the methods, and the means of voluntary euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, and self-deliverance (rational suicide).

There are also accompanying DVD (2006) and VHS video versions of the book.

In l991 the first edition, then published by the original Hemlock Society (1980-2003) was for 18 weeks the number one bestselling
nonfiction book in America — to everyones surprise! It has sold over a million copies.

The paperback ‘Final Exit’ is published by Random House, New York.

Today it remains a consistent seller throughout the English-speaking world, and there are currently translations in Spanish and Italian.

Buy the book, DVD or VHS over the internet at the ERGO store

Confusion over changing names

2006-01-23T13:49:00.000-08:00

THE BIG CLEAN-UP :
ALL THOSE NAMES CHANGES

By Derek Humphry

Some years ago I was sitting in the High Court of Appeals in London listening to a euthanasia case. Part of the evidence was that the man had paid a call at the office of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, in Chelsea. All he got there was information, certainly not assisted death. The defendant's lawyer argued that surely this was not sufficient this grounds to support a conviction of his client?

To which the judge replied: "When I want fish, I go to a fish supplier. When I want euthanasia I go to a euthanasia office. " The appeal was denied.

This court cameo occurred to me when I surveyed all the name changes in the world right-to-die movement recently. There is a rush to make their organization's names more palatable, more acceptable to politicians and governments.

But is it doing any good?

In the last three years, the following have euphemized their names. To what benefit remains to be seen. It has certainly confused a lot of the rank and file supporters of the 'right-to-die' movement. I know from experience that it has caused many to abandon their memberships, although not their philosophy of choices in dying.

1. Hemlock Society USA changed name to End-of-Life Choices. (Considered more palatable name.)

2. End-of-Life Choices changed name to Compassion in Dying (upon merger)

3. Compassion in Dying changed name to Compasion and Choices (to complete merger.)

4. Voluntary Euthanasia Society of Victoria (Australia) changed name to Dying With Dignity - Victoria.

5. Voluntary Euthanasia Society (London) changed name to Dignity in Dying. (Considered more acceptable name)

6. N V V E (Netherlands) changed name to Right to Die NL (because euthanasia has been legalized)

And now the re-named London group (Dignity in Dying) is getting protests from palliative care groups, and others (mostly opposed to euthanasia anyway) that because the new name indicates the same compasionate philosophy as theirs, thus it could cause confusion among patients. The protesters are asking the UK government not to allow the new name to be officially registered.

Most people don't even think about 'euthanasia' (a generic term for all hastened deaths) until they or a loved one has a life-threatening illness. And now they must search around the lists of various organizations with 'Dignity' in their titles and find out which is the one they feel they need to know about. Not, I think, a recipe for popularity.

Why not, as the old saw goes, 'call a spade a spade' ?

------------Derek Humphry. His opinion. 23 January 2006

Derek Humphry
www.finalexit.org
www.assistedsuicide.org

'A rose by any other name....'

2006-01-22T11:25:00.000-08:00

In the last three years, the following have euphemized their names. To what benefit remains to be seen.

It has certainly confused a lot of the rank and file supporters of the 'right-to-die' movement.

1. Hemlock Society USA changed name to End-of-Life Choices. (Considered more palatable name.)

2. End-of-Life Choices changed name to Compassion in Dying (upon merger)

3. Compassion in Dying changed name to Compasion and Choices (to complete merger.)

4. Voluntary Euthanasia Society of Victoria (Australia) changed name to Dying With Dignity - Victoria.

5. Voluntary Euthanasia Society (London) changed name to Dying in Dignity. (Considered more acceptable name)

6. N V V E (Netherlands) changed name to Right to Die NL (because euthanasia has been legalized)

Derek Humphry
www.finalexit.org
www.assistedsuicide.org

Definitions of 'euthanasia'

2006-01-19T12:03:00.000-08:00

With so much talk about 'euthanasia' these days after the Terri Schiavo affair (March 2005), and the affirming decision of the US Supreme Court (January 2006) in the Oregon physician-assisted suicide case, it seems time -- in the interests of mutual understanding -- to define the principal words being used. Thus.............

ASSISTED SUICIDE: Helping a person to end his or her life by request in order to end suffering.. (Rarely prosecuted and only lawful in Switzerland where the reasons must be altruistic.)

PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE: Medical doctor helping patient to die by prescribing a lethal overdose. Patient can chose whether to drink it. (Lawful only in Oregon, Switzerland, Netherlands and Belgium.)

EUTHANASIA: A broad, generic term meaning 'help with a good death.'

VOLUNTARY EUTHANASIA: Death by lethal injection by doctor when requested by patient. (Only lawful in Belgium and the Netherlands for the terminally or hopelessly ill.)

NON-VOLUNTARY EUTHANASIA: Using powerful drugs, doctor ends life of suffering, dying patient who is comatose. Illegal, but happens all the time, discreetly, in the interest of compassion.

TERMINAL SEDATION: Upon patient request, doctor puts patient into deep sleep with medications, during which time the patient dies either of the underlying illness or starvation/dehydration. Widely practiced and generally accepted as ethical and lawful.

MERCY KILLING: Taking the life of another person in the belief that this is a compassionate act because the ill person is unable to do so. Unlawful.

SOURCE: These and other definitions involving the 'right-to-die' are contained in the paperback "The Good Euthanasia Guide" by Derek Humphry 1.19.06

Derek Humphry
www.finalexit.org
www.assistedsuicide.org

Legislation takes so long

2006-01-18T11:47:00.000-08:00

The view of the 'Final Exit Network' USA :
Finally, after more than four years under assault, the Supreme Court upheld Oregon’s physician assisted suicide law, rejecting Attorney General John Ashcroft’s use of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to conduct an assault on doctors who prescribe lethal doses to end the suffering of individuals who are terminally ill. The battle is far from over, however.

This ruling merely preserves the status quo, and only in one state. And the stringent Oregon law only applies only to individuals who have less than six months to live.

Since 1998 estimates are that slightly fewer than 250 individuals have found the peace and dignity they deserve under the Oregon law. Meanwhile, in the other 49 states, no such law exists. That’s why we formed Final Exit Network. Since Final Exit Network’s launch in September, 2004, 28 individuals in many states have exercised their Last Human Right © with the support of a Network Exit Guide. Right now, with the Network’s help, at least 45 individuals are actively setting the stage for their own peaceful, dignified deaths.

We support the valiant efforts of the Oregon Attorney General’s Office defending this important law. We also applaud the efforts of our colleagues in the death-with-dignity movement to change the laws.

However, we feel that legislative change will not come soon enough for the many people who need help NOW and in the interim! Even if physician-aid-in-dying laws are passed in other states, will the Justice Department assault them as well? It is telling that new Chief Justice John Roberts cast a dissenting vote in this 6 – 3 decision. If candidate Alito is appointed to replace Justice O’Connor, would he vote to uphold or overturn this crucial right? We can’t afford to wait to find out.

As Derek Humphry says, ‘Until laws protect the right of every adult to a peaceful, dignified death, Final Exit Network will be there to support those who need relief from their suffering today!’

Ted Goodwin
President, Final Exit Network
www.finalexitnetwork.org
--

Influence of court decision

2006-01-18T10:51:00.000-08:00

Regardless that yesterday's US Supreme Court decision turned on a legal technicality -- what court case doesn't? -- the positive Oregon decision is very heartening to people who would like to see genuine, nonpartisan law reform everywhere on medical assisted suicide for the terminally and hopelessly ill competent adult.

The next danger is that the Bush regime will go to a Congress where
it has power and gut the Oregon law, at the same time banning physician-assisted suicide everywhere in America. That will take a lot of undoing when the climate changes and the people are ready to enact compassionate laws on the right-to-die.

Thus we must do everything in our power to protect the ultimate civil liberty -- the right to choose to die. Let the evangelicals and the rest of the religious right die in whatever fashion they
choose, and the remainder of us (60-70 percent) in ours.

Derek Humphry
www.finalexit.org
www.assistedsuicide.org

Victory for common sense

2006-01-17T08:02:00.001-08:00

The US Supreme Court today (17 Jan 06) upheld Oregon's physician-assisted law which the Bush government has been trying for years to repeal.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, said the federal government does, indeed, have the authority to go after drug dealers and pass rules for health and safety.

But Oregon's law covers only extremely sick people -- those with incurable diseases, whom at least two doctors agree have six months or less to live and are of sound mind.

{This is a victory for common sense and democracy. After all,
the citizens of Oregon TWICE voted for the Death With Dignity Act.
Derek Humphry
www.finalexit.org
www.assistedsuicide.org

Versions of 'Final Exit'

2006-01-16T11:13:00.000-08:00

I am getting international inquiries currently as to which languages the book 'Final Exit' is now available. When it was a national bestseller in l991-92 it appeared in 12 languages but today it is confined to three (all paperbacks):

1. ENGLISH. Random House, "Final Exit New York. Delta Trade Paperback. $15. Title: "Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying" ISBN 0385336535. (2002 3rd edition, with Addendum 2005 available from ERGO)

2. ITALIAN. Eleuthera, Milan. Title: "Eutanasia: Uscita Di Sicurezza,Istruzioni per l'uso" ISBN 8885861253. (New edition 2005)

3. SPANISH. Tusquets, Barcelona. "El Ultimo Recurso: Cuestiones practicas sobre autoliberacion y suicidio asistido para moribundos." ISBN 8472235009.

These books may not be on all bookstore shelves, but they can be ORDERED from any bookstore in the world. ERGO is unable to sell directly to customers the Italian and Spanish editions.

When 'Final Exit' appeared in a French translation as "Exit Final" it was immediately banned by government order, and remains so. On its appearance in Australia and New Zealand in l992 it was immediately banned by the censorship boards in those countries. But on appeal they relented and allowed it to be sold publicly.

There is now a DVD video based on the book. DVD title, "Final Exit on DVD: The Art of Self-Deliverance From a Terminal Illness" US$20. From ERGO store; not yet in bookstores. ISBN 9780976828303.
Derek Humphry
www.finalexit.org
www.assistedsuicide.org

'Final Exit' the ultimate DIY book

2006-01-14T12:05:00.000-08:00

New DVD from the book ‘Final Exit’

The author and director Derek Humphry writes:

Some people can instinctively absorb the contents and instructions in a book fairly quickly. Others learn quicker from visual information on a screen.

Actually, it's wiser to use both in a complex matter like personal choice in dying.

This new DVD of "FINAL EXIT" spells out in plain language and clear video what planning, responsibility, family solidarity, and determination are required from an adult for self-deliverance from a terminal or hopeless illness that can no longer be endured.

And, of course, the various methods of self-deliverance are explained verbally and visually.

DVD and/or book can be obtained from: www.finalexit.org/ergo-store

Derek Humphry
www.finalexit.org
www.assistedsuicide.org

Our thoughts about dying

2006-01-11T10:15:00.000-08:00

*The number of people saying they have a Living Will has more than doubled, from just 12 percent in l990 to 29 percent today.

*The public is deeply divided over legalizing physician-assisted suicide; 46 percent approve of laws permitting doctors to help patients to end their lives, while about as many are opposed (45 percent).

*A solid majority of Americans (60 percent) believe a person has a moral right to end their life if they are suffering great pain and have no hope of improvement.

*Nearly as many (53 percent) believe a person has a moral right to end their life if suffering from an incurable disease.

SOURCE:Pew Research Center survey, conducted Nov 9-27, 2005, among 1,500 American adults.

Euthanasia D I Y on DVD

2005-12-23T16:16:00.000-08:00

‘FINAL EXIT’ GUIDANCE AVAILABLE ON DVD

Now the latest ways to plan self-deliverance (auto-euthanasia) from an unbearable terminal or hopeless illness can be seen on a DVD screen.

The video is based on the number one bestselling book “Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying” by Derek Humphry.

This 2006 DVD updates the 2000 Final Exit VHS Video.It includes new footage demonstrating the DIY helium bag method which achieves a swift and painless brain death -- not suffocation.

There are graphics and titles illustrating helium tank setup and step-by-step procedures for self-deliverance.

Any inert gas will bring about the same result. Directed, written & narrated by Derek Humphry.

46 minute length. NTSC format. $20 US plus shipping. ISBN 978 0 9768283 0 3

This is an adjunct resource to Final Exit, 3rd edition book with its Final Exit Addendum.(Book ISBN 0 385 336 535)

The paperback is available in good bookstores worldwide but the version including the Addendum is obtainable only from ERGO’s online store. The famous drug dosage chart remains in the book. It is advisable to read both the book and also watch the DVD for the best possible planning. This guidance is for the possible use by a terminally or hopelessly ill competent adult who wishes to avoid further unrelieved pain and distress. Self-deliverance (a.k.a. rational suicide) is not a crime.

Shipment by nonprofit ERGO of this DVD begins 1 January 2006.

Secure ordering now through http://www.finalexit.org/ergo-store

Or send check/money order for $25 US (includes s/h) to: ERGO, 24829 Norris Lane, Junction City, OR 97448, USA.

Canada and overseas orders send $30 US for airmail shipment early January.

Derek Humphry
www.finalexit.org
www.assistedsuicide.org

Dr. Kevorkian stays locked up

2005-12-23T09:26:00.000-08:00

The Parole Board in Michigan has decided not to release Dr. Jack Kevorkian until the end of his sentence.

The Board voted 7-2 to recommend denying the application for a commuted sentence or a pardon for the 77-year-old assisted suicide advocate.

Dr Kevorkian was sentenced in 1999 to 10-25 years imprisonment for giving a fatal injection to Thomas Youk, 52, who had Lou Gehrig's decease and asked Kevorkian to give him a mercy killing.

Previously Kevorkian had participated in some 130 euthanasia cases over nine years.

Kevorkian's lawyers recently asked the Parole Board and the Governor to release Kevorkian on the gounds of his ill health. He has Hepatitis C and high blood pressure.

Derek Humphry
www.finalexit.org
www.assistedsuicide.org

Reading and watching

2005-12-20T13:51:00.000-08:00

New DVD from the book ‘Final Exit’

The author and director Derek Humphry writes:

Some people can instinctively absorb the contents and instructions in a book fairly quickly. Others learn quicker from visual information on a screen.

Actually, it's wiser to use both in a complex matter like personal choice in dying.

This new DVD of "FINAL EXIT" spells out in plain language and clear video what planning, responsibility, family solidarity, and determination are required from an adult for self-deliverance from a terminal or hopeless illness that can no longer be endured.

And, of course, the various methods of self-deliverance are explained verbally and visually.

DVD and/or book can be obtained from: www.finalexit.org/ergo-store/

The Law and 'mercy killing'

2005-12-19T13:53:00.000-08:00

There can be understanding shown by judges in cases of 'mercy killing' as this case from Tasmania shows:

A Launceston [Australia] nurse who tried to kill her mother and helped in the suicide of her father is free after receiving a wholly suspended sentence.

Catherine Ann Pryor, 42, had admitted helping her father kill himself but had denied the charge of attempting to murder her mother. Earlier this month the jury found her guilty of that charge.

In the Criminal Court, Acting Justice Michael Hill said it was clear Pryor had a caring relationship with her mother and was not acting out of self-interest.

Pryor was sentenced to 18 months in jail for the attempted murder and 12 months for the assisted suicide. Both sentences were wholly suspended.

More info on this subject at www.finalexit.org

Euthanasia progress in Switzerland

2005-12-17T15:44:00.000-08:00

BREAKTHROUGH IN SWITZERLAND

A hospital in Switzerland says it will allow euthanasia on its premises to the terminally ill. It will be the first in that country to allow the practice. Since 1940 has always been carried out in homes.

Assisted suicide is permitted under Swiss law, but until now hospitals have refused to allow euthanasia to be committed on site. The hastened death can legally be carried out either by a doctor or a non-doctor but most people agree that medical assistance is preferable.

From the start of next year, terminally ill patients in Lausanne's main hospital will be able to take their own lives on hospital premises. Officials say strict controls will still apply.

The patient must be of sound mind, be already too ill to have returned home and have expressed a persistent wish to die.

Senior doctors at the hospital say the decision has come after almost three years of consideration. +++

NOTE: The word 'euthanasia' is a generic term for all forms of hastened, peaceful, painless death. D.H

Further info: assistedsuicide.org

The right to choose to die

2005-12-12T16:42:00.000-08:00

Schiavo case repercussions
Michael Schiavo, whose effort to end life support for his brain-damaged wife divided a nation, is launching a political action committee that will challenge candidates based on where they stand on government's reach in
private lives.

Nine months after a fierce political and legal fight over Terri Schiavo, Michael Schiavo said his experience with political leaders "has opened my eyes to just how easily the private wishes of normal Americans like me and Terri can be cast aside in a destructive game of political pandering."

Right-to-die info at www.finalexit.org/

This new OZ law is an ass

2005-12-08T09:56:00.000-08:00

Censorship
In Australia, from January 7, any Letters to the Editor about suicide options for the terminally ill will have to be sent by post to avoid a $110,000 fine for using e-mail.

-----Derek Humphry www.finalexit.org

Where is the mercy?

2005-12-07T16:19:00.000-08:00

A letter in the AARP Bulletin for December 2005 reads as follows:

Assisted dying: mercy
I am close to 70. Many of us who have reached this age have stood by the bedside of many dying friends and family, some of whom have begged to die.
How do doctors stand that sight day after day, year after year?
Last year, a friend with terminal cancer tried to put a plastic bag over his head in order to cut off all oxygen. He also hid pain pills, prolonging his discomfort until he felt he had enough to end his agony. He no longer wanted to be nauseated, to suffer. And people say he had to continue to live like that? Why?
Where is the mercy?
No one but the patient should be able to make the choice whether to stay or to go at their own time.
We treat our sick animals better than we do our terminally ill patients.
----- Eileen Schenck, Las Vegas, Nevada

Recommend reading "Final Exit, The Practicalities of
Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying" by
Derek Humphry.

Harsh sentence for suicide information

2005-12-07T16:05:00.000-08:00

The Dutch may have progressive attitudes and laws on voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide, but they apply only to physicians as this story demonstrates. What if she had read 'Final Exit' which was published in Dutch?

Dutch 'suicide consultant' is jailed for a year
Wed Dec 7, 2005

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A Dutch court sentenced a man calling himself a "suicide consultant" to a year in jail on Wednesday for helping a mentally ill woman end her life.

Jan Hilarius, the 73-year-old founder of Dutch suicide consultancy De Einder, was found guilty of helping a 25-year-old woman acquire medicines to kill herself 2003.

A court in the northern town of Alkmaar said in a statement Hilarius had corresponded with the woman and given her information about the deadly doses and combinations of medicines available online.

The court said the fact that Hilarius was not present when the woman killed herself was not the decisive factor.

"On the basis of his experience as a social worker, J.H. should have known that he could not diagnose whether the woman was suffering unbearably," the court said.

"J.H. professes to respect the boundaries of the law but crossed them by providing assistance in suicide to people who possibly were really looking for medical help."

The Netherlands became the first country to legalize euthanasia in 2001 but doctors must obey strict rules.

Patients must face a future of unbearable suffering and make a voluntary, well-considered request to die. Doctor and patient must be convinced there is no other solution. A second doctor must be consulted and life ended in a medically appropriate way.

De Einder -- Dutch for horizon -- was set up in 1995 to offer "professional help" to people who want to kill themselves by either persuading them to change their mind or assisting them to do so if that is their choice, the
group's Web site says.

An article on the Web site says the organization does not provide medicines itself but tells people how to order them on the Internet, advising about 350 people each year and helping at least 35 people to kill themselves annually.

This is not the first time De Einder has been in trouble. In 2003, another consultant was sentenced to six months in jail for helping a woman commit suicide.

The organization argues that the Dutch euthanasia law should be extended to allow professional help for people who have mental and not just physical reasons for wanting to die.

The precise number of euthanasia cases in the Netherlands is not known as not all doctors report them, but the government estimates that there are several thousand each year.
********************************

Animal and human euthanasia

2005-11-28T11:46:00.000-08:00

What does a vet do when a pet owner wants them to carry outheroic surgery on a dying animal? Rebecca Coombes asks whetherdoctors and vets can learn from each other's ethical dilemmas

The ethical problems facing doctors and vets obviously differin some ways. A veterinary surgeon, for example, can decidewhen a treatment is no longer valuable and opt for euthanasia.This course is not open to doctors. And a doctor has to seekthe consent of a patient for treatment whereas veterinary surgeonsneed to steer a course between their own professional opinionand the wishes of pet owners. The animal itself has no rights.Moreover, there is no NHS for animals, and decisions about euthanasiaoften have to be made in the light of an owner's ability topay for a lengthy course of life extending treatment. But, whenconsidering these ethical issues with members of both the veterinaryand medical profession, some interesting parallels emerge.
READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE FROM THE BRITISH
MEDICAL JOURNAL AT
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/331/7527/1227

End-of-life choice in Japan

2005-11-28T10:58:00.001-08:00

The Japan Society for Dying With Dignity had 108,841 members as of September 11, 2005 -- the largest right-to-die organization in the world.
The Tokyo based group <www.songenshi-kyokai.com> does NOT advocate active euthanasia, suicide or assisted suicide, only LIVING WILLS to prevent the prolongation of suffering at the end of life.
There are two women to every one man in the membership of the Japanese group. Members 65 and older number
86,576, while those 75 and older number 49,907.
There are 39 members over 100 years old, 31 of them women and eight men.
SOURCE: Newsletter of Japan Soc. For Dying With Dignity, # 119, September 2005.
______________________

Assisted suicide, easy death

2005-11-27T12:04:00.000-08:00

A view from the Netherlands:-
SUFFERING IS NOT SOLVED BY A MERE CUP OF COFFEE

Is physician-assisted suicide in case of suffering from life justified? And if so, who decides? The patient, the doctor or an independent institution?
Former Dutch general practitioner Peter Kaldenhoven is certain that many of his colleagues do not fully realize how severe this kind of suffering is and, therefore, shy away from it. "After all, doctors are human beings and not always capable to assess the situation. In my first years I couldn'teither."
SOURCE: NVVE newsletter, October 2005

Euthanasia Weblog

2005-11-23T13:57:00.001-08:00

"Great and Good Have Little Truck With God"

BRITAIN'S elite are half as likely to believe in God than the general population, and far less likely to believe in life after death, a survey suggests.

Michael Irwin, a retired GP and former chairman of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, wrote to 1,600 randomly selected people listed in Who's Who. To his surprise, 761 took the time to write back.

One Anglican bishop said that he did not believe in the survival of individual "souls" after death. The bishop did admit, however, to the possibility of a non-specific "life force" energising everyone on Earth.

Dr Irwin, 74, who as a former medical director of the United Nations is listed in Who's Who, had replies from the authors Bamber Gascoigne, Colin Wilson, Naim Attallah and Colin Dexter, the agony aunt Clare Rayner, the zoologist Keith Vickerman, the anthropologist Alan MacFarlane, Lord Alton of Liverpool, Lord Haskins and Lord Young of Norwood Green.

> Dr Irwin, who has published his findings in a booklet, What Survives?, said that previous surveys, such as a Reader's Digest poll of March this year, suggested that 64 per cent believed in the existence of God and 58 per cent in an afterlife. In the recent national census, more than 70 per cent described themselves as Christian.
But he found that just 29 per cent of those in Who's Who believed that a soul continued to exist after death and 5 per cent believed that no individual souls survived but did admit to the possibility of a non-specific life force. A further 46 per cent said that nothing at all survived death except a person's descendants, writings and other people's memories. Just 20 per cent were "uncertain" about what happened.
This year Dr Irwin was erased from the General Medical Council register. He had been arrested on suspicion of conspiring to bring about the suicide of a terminally ill friend on the Isle of Man, but no charges were brought. He was given a police caution.
Source:-
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1884770,00.html
******************************

Kevorkian 3rd plea for freedom

2005-11-20T10:55:00.000-08:00

Press Release

Source: Attorney Mayer Morganroth

Noted Attorney Asks Compassion for 'Dr. Jack'
Saturday November 19, 12:43 pm ET

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., Nov. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorney Mayer Morganroth is asking Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm to grant a pardon and/or commutation of sentence for Dr. Jack Kevorkian.

"Dr. Jack has served more than six and a half years in prison for an offense that not one other doctor in the entire United States has ever spent one day in prison for," Morganroth said.

Morganroth filed application asking the Michigan Parole Board to immediately forward the request to the governor who has the ultimate say in the matter.

Dr. Kevorkian is scheduled for release in June of 2007, a date, Morganroth says, Kevorkian may never see.

"The man is in dire shape," Morganroth explained. " Prison has deteriorated him almost to the point of no return. Jack is suffering from dangerously high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, temporal arteritis, peripheral arthritis, adrenal insufficiency, chronic pulmonary obstruction disease and cataracts. On top of all that, his Hepatitis C (which Jack contracted in Vietnam testing transfusions given to American soldier) is sapping him of what little energy he has left."

Morganroth said a recent MSNBC national poll showed that 88 percent of the people that participated believe Kevorkian should be freed. "It would be a most compassionate act for Governor Granholm to order Jack's release," Morganroth said " especially during the holiday season."

According to Morganroth, Kevorkian is so frail that simply walking is dangerous. "He's fallen twice, fracturing two ribs and injuring his wrist," Morganroth said. "Kevorkian also suffers from diplopia, vertigo, dysphasgia, headaches, and osteoporosis."

"Look, Jack is not a ogre. He's a doctor who has helped a lot of needy people over the years. The courts said he made a mistake, so be it, he's paid for that mistake with six and a half years of his life in prison. He's 77 years-old now, and it's time to let the man die with some dignity by being free." (Source: Attorney Mayer Morganroth)

World news on euthanasia

2005-11-17T20:25:00.000-08:00

ASSISTED SUICIDE DEBATE IN CANADA
A one-hour TV special called "Giving Death a Hand" will be screened by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) at six different times, starting November 23. The Evelyn Martens case will be a major focus of the show. (Evelyn was acquitted of two charges of assisting suicides after a lengthy trial.)

On Nov. 23 the show will be aired on regular television (that is, not cable) as the program "Fifth Estate", starting at 9 p.m. (probably local time - in any case, the time at which "Fifth Estate" airs in your part of the world).
Americans living near the Canadian border may be able to pick up this broadcast.

The later broadcasts are on the "Newsworld" program, via cable, and the times given are Eastern Standard Time:
Friday Nov. 25, at 10 p.m. Saturday Nov. 26, at 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday Nov. 27, at 7 p.m.

The CBC website, www.cbc.ca may be of help for further information.

"The Good Euthanasia Guide"

2005-11-17T12:08:00.000-08:00

The Voluntary Euthanasia Society of Victoria Inc (Australia) is proposing to change its name to DYING WITH DIGNITY - VICTORIA. (This has yet to be
confirmed at the annual general meeting on 26 February 2006 at 2 pm.)

Dr. Rodney Syme, president, writes in the group's November newsletter: "This word [euthanasia] has come to be much misunderstood, and has a variety of
meanings and uses, many negative. This has made the Society vulnerable to misrepresentation and hinders us in presenting a clear and accurate message."

The organization is also moving offices at the end of November to
3/98 Salisbury Avenue, Blackburn, Victoria 31310. Its new telephone number will be +9877-7677
Email: vesv@vesv.org.au Web: www.vesv.org.au
************************

Acquiring the book 'Final Exit'

2005-11-13T14:51:00.000-08:00

ACQUIRING 'FINAL EXIT' BOOK FOR YOUR MEMBERS
Right-to-die groups/chapters/branches of any ilk in North America may
purchase 'Final Exit' (with its Addendum)directly from ERGO at a 40 percent
discount for bulk orders of 10 or more copies.

The book -- 3rd edition -- retails at $15.00.   It remains the only such
book in the world.  The Addendum brings it right up to date.  Previous
editions do not contain the helium method because it was unknown.

Of course, 'Final Exit' can be bought singly in good bookstores, individually, but
it does not have the Addendum.

Bulk orders can be called in to 541-998-1873 and charged to Visa/MC, or
ordered by regular mail with check or money order.  (Individual orders,
also, but at the regular price.)

For example:  Ten copies at $15.00 = $150.  After 40 percent r t d discount
= $90.00.   Shipping via USPS Media Mail: add $3.00.

Derek Humphry, journalist & author
President, ERGO. (Euthanasia Research & Guidance Organization)
24829 Norris Lane, Junction City, Oregon 97448 USA.
ERGO: www.finalexit.org/ and
www.assistedsuicide.org
BOOKS/FILMS  at  http://finalexit.org/ergo-store

Goodwill Ambassador

2005-10-29T19:39:00.000-07:00

FAYE GIRSH
The board of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies at its recent meeting in Turin appointed Ms. Faye Girsh as its 'roving ambassador' to carry the message of the movement to distant parts of the universe.
Ms. Girsh, former executive director of the Hemlock Society, during the next year will be visiting Australia, India, Thailand and China, and plans to meet with individuals in the last three countries who might start
right-to-die groups.
Ms. Girsh is also editor of the World Right-to-Die Newsletter.
Neither of these posts is salaried and Ms. Girsh travels at her own expense.
Forty-one of the 46 right-to-die groups in the world are members of the World Federation. www.worldrtd.net

Email: fayegirsh@msn.com

"Final Exit'' - a book

2005-09-08T09:41:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr.Humphry,
I received and read your book "The Final Exit" this week. It reaches a goal seldom covered in any source of information about self-deliverance. As the pages go by, the reader is able to objectively discard any reasons other than profound and chronic pain and suffering as motives to consider the final exit. This is, without any persistent and obvious warnings, the way in which it's written addresses issues that can only be understood with the comprehension of such a terrible experience (chronic suffering). -----
----Rodrigo, in Mexico. 8 Sept 05

"Final Exit" the book

2005-09-02T14:58:00.000-07:00

Derek Humphry and the bestselling book "Final Exit"

Delta paperback $15 US

3rd edition

The inevitability of gradualness

2005-09-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

The philosopher Peter Singer predicts in the current issue of 'Foreign Policy' magazine:
"During the next 35 years, the traditional view of the sanctity of human life will collapse under pressure from scientific,technological, and demographic developments. By 2040, it may be that only a rump of hard-core, know-nothing religious fundamentalists will defend the view that every human life, from conception to death, is sacrosanct."

British support euthanasia

2005-08-29T16:36:00.000-07:00

An opinion poll in Britain found the following:

The YouGov poll uncovered huge popular backing for the legalisation of assisted suicide, with 87 per cent agreeing with the statement that people who are terminally ill ''should have the right to decide when they want to die and to ask for medical assistance to help them''.

More than two thirds said people should be allowed to assist the suicides of close relatives without fear of prosecution.

------Source, Daily Telegraph, London, August 29, 2005

Doctors unlikely to be prosecuted

2005-08-27T14:33:00.000-07:00

An 8-page academic study of doctors and the laws on assisted suicide published in the summer 2005 issue of the 'Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics' has this conclusion:-

"Research findings indicated that several physicians throughout the United States have participated in PAS [physician-assisted
suicide], outside of Oregon, even though such conduct is unlawful.
Although the exact number of hastened deaths remains unknown, and
prosecutions of physicians in general have increased over time, the number of physicians prosecuted for participating in PAS is virtually non-existent."

Legal assisted suicide which failed

2005-08-23T11:58:00.000-07:00

THE LETHAL OVERDOSE WHICH WASN'T
The Oregon Board of Pharmacy has not yet issued its report on why
a man in Oregon in March was given 9 grams of Seconal, in liquid form, --- under the state's assisted suicide law -- but woke up 3 days later. (Robert Pruitt, 42, lung cancer. He died naturally three weeks later, according to newspaper reports.)

Unofficially, I am told that this was the problem:

The man sipped the lethal drink and complained that it was too bitter. His wife suggested that he first take some Lactalose which is very sweet.
( Lactulose is a synthetic sugar used to treat constipation. It is broken down in the colon into products that pull water out from the body and into the colon. This water softens stools. Lactulose is also used to reduce the amount of ammonia in the blood of patients with liver disease. It works by drawing ammonia from the blood into the colon where it is removed from the body.)
The theory of why the man did not die from the Seconal overdose is that probably the Lactulose coated his stomach and the drug largely passed through his system, putting him to sleep but insufficiently to end life.
Seems to be something we should know.

--------Derek Humphry, Oregon, author of 'Final Exit'.
++++++++++

A distinguished anesthesiologist who is long-standing member of our NuTech group (New Technology in Self-Deliverance) makes the following comment about the above case in Oregon:-

"There may be a consideration other than lactulose which could have
caused the patient of current interest to wake up. That is, he
might have been barbiturate-tolerant. A few patients are very
tolerant and capable of recovery from very large doses. In current
hastened dying practices, we should expect an occasional failure
because of high patient tolerance alone. Nearly always, nine grams of Seconal is more than sufficient. but not necessarily in a full 100% of cases.

"Another consideration is: In the case of current interest, can we be certain that a full nine grams of Seconal was actually ingested?
Evidently, the patient objected to the bitter taste of the
medication; lactulose was added to improve palatability. Was any of
the medication spilled, or spit out, or not ingested because some of
it clung to the surfaces of the vessel from which the mixture was
administered?

"It will be interesting to hear what the Oregon Board of Pharmacy has to say."

(Name of this medical professional known to, and withheld) D H)
Posted 23 August 2005
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Final Exit" the book

2005-08-18T17:50:00.000-07:00

'Final Exit' the ultimate DIY book

2005-08-18T17:14:00.000-07:00

If the book 'Final Exit' is not in your local bookstore, you can get it immediately from the ERGO store. Mailed out to you the same day or next day. It is the ultimate textbook on how to achieve a peaceful, dignified end to escape terminal or hopeless suffering. Worth having around for
when the inevitable end looms. $15.00 US plus $3 mailing in USA.
$5 mailing to Canada. $10 to all other countries.

------author Derek Humphry

"Final Exit" the DIY book

2005-07-27T15:20:00.001-07:00

Which method of rational suicide

2005-07-27T14:38:00.000-07:00

I was greatly impressed by the honesty and good taste of the documentary 'The Self-Made Man" on P O V on PBS TV on July 26. (It has still to be shown on some PBS stations.)
But I was saddened to see the violent way -- a gun -- that Bob Stern used. And in full view by his son.
True, it is the most popular method of suicide by American men. But there are other, non-violent, bloodless ways of rational suicide which are (sorry about the plug) detailed in my book 'Final Exit' which, since l991, has helped thousands of suffering people end their lives peacefully, painlessly, and in the the presence of their loved ones.
With a gun, it cannot be done in the presence of others, and some unlucky person has to clear up the mess. With lethal drugs or helium gas as the escape route it is much more aesthetic and acceptable.
Nevertheless, Bob Stern had the undoubted moral right to bring his life to an end in the manner of his own choosing, though it would not be mine. A most important film about 'choice'.
-----------Derek Humphry
_________________
Founder of the original Hemlock Society 1980 (dissolved 2003). Author of 'Final Exit' book, sold worldwide by Random House in paperback.

Was this a rational suicide?

2005-07-25T10:09:00.000-07:00

25 July 2005
Today's 'San Francisco Chronicle' carries a long article about the suicide of Bob Stern, which is to be shown on film on Tuesday evening (PBS TV, Point of View) throughout north America.

Several different points of view on rational suicide are reported in the article, including mine, which is correctly quoted as

"Derek Humphry, author of "Final Exit" and founder of the Hemlock Society,
was unequivocal when asked, is your life your own to terminate?

"My view is that life is a personal responsibility. If you feel you have reasons to take your life, so be it."

When Bob Stern's case was described to him, Humphry expressed concern about the means -- firearm -- but not the motive.

"Elderly suicidal people recognize that life has run its course and if that's what the person wants,'' Humphry said, that is the individual's choice. "Don't shock or hurt your family, of course, which is why I recommend lethal drug dosages or helium."

Humphry, though, believes in having safeguards in place, as in Oregon's Death With Dignity law, which is now being challenged before the U.S. Supreme Court. Oregon requires that two doctors verify the patient isn't depressed. "

Read the whole Chronicle article, with pictures, at

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/07/25/MNGUPDSVIQ1.DTL

***************************************************

Euthanasia Self-Deliverance Right-to-Die Final Exit Hemlock Society Founder Weblog

2005-07-20T14:37:00.000-07:00

Euthanasia Self-Deliverance Right-to-Die Final Exit Hemlock Society Founder Weblog

RATIONAL SUICIDE

On Tuesday evening,(26 July) on PBS TV, watch P O V (Point of View) on rational suicide. See local listings throughout North America for show times. A California man explains why he is about to end his life, which he then does.

For an expert opinion on rational suicide, contact Derek Humphry, 541-998-3285 or email derekhumphry@starband.net

Humphry founded the Hemlock Society in l980 and wrote the bestselling book 'Final Exit', now in its 3rd edition. Today he is president of the Euthanasia Research & Guidance Organization (ERGO) www.finalexit.org

Doctors changing euthanasia views

2005-07-01T09:48:00.000-07:00

CORRECTION:
The date in the previous blog concerning doctors and euthanasia
should be June 29, and not July 29. D H

Doctors changing euthanasia views

2005-07-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

The decision of the British Medical Association on July 29 in future to remain neutral on issues of voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide has considerable significance.

So often in the past when law reform on these two issues was put forward, politicians tellingly pointed to the fact that the official bodies of the medical professions were opposed. It was a huge stumbling block.

The American Medical Association, and the same organizations in Canada and Australia, remain opposed to hastened death by choice. But now the British ones have broken the barrier, hopefully doctors' groups in other countries will follow suit.

The reason why the Dutch, Belgian and Swiss people have had lawful physician-assisted death is that, from the start, the medical groups in those countries co-operated rather than blindly opposed.

There is currently an assisted suicide Bill before the London Parliament which will have a far better chance of passing now that UK physicians have withdrawn their opposition.

---------------Derek Humphry, 1 July 05
President, ERGO. ergo@efn.org

"The Good Euthanasia Guide"

2005-06-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

Read this new desk reference book by Derek Humphry if you care about what will happen to you when you reach life's end. By the author of the bestseller

'Final Exit'

, this new book is more of a 'where-to' than a 'how-to'.

Includes a chronology of right-to-die events, a filmography going back to 1924, a bibliography, FAQs, and listings of all choice in dying organizations in the world, and much more info.

Updated 'Good Euthanasia Guide' just published. June 2005. Paperback. $14.00 US Plus $3 shipping; ($8 overseas.)

This book can be downloaded if you don't want a print copy.

World news on euthanasia

2005-06-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The June issue of the 'World Right to Die Newsletter' can be read, article by article, at this web site

http://www.worldrtd.net/newsletters/archive/?id=25

The newsletter reports on the censorship battle in Australia, the Terri Schiavo rumpus in America, parliamentary developments in Britain, the Swiss situation, and much more.

Editor: Faye Girsh; assistant editor, Derek Humphry.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Right to die news digest

2005-05-30T16:17:00.000-07:00

THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE TO DIE

If you have a serious and enduring interest in this subject, consider subscribing to our international mailing list. Exchange news and views on a wide range of right-to-die topics. It comes in a digest.

Only subscribe if you in principle support the right to choose to die when physical suffering is unbearable, and want to know what's happening in the world on this timely subject.

This list has been running since l994. There are no fees. Digest only. ERGO (Euthanasia Research & Guidance Organization) is nonprofit. Postings are monitored for suitability to the subject by Derek Humphry.

Reducing so-called 'Internet suicides'

2005-05-29T16:00:00.000-07:00

ERGO (Euthanasia Research & Guidance Org) is not primarily concerned with people with mental health problems or bizarre behavior. Our special field of concern is end-stage terminal illness or hopeless illness, and how competent adults may choose to deal with it by rational suicide. But some of our critics have been using the recent spate of group suicides in Japan, and the information
they received over certain Internet sites, to try to pass the blame to the euthanasia movement. Some Roman Catholic priests in Ireland have publicly joined in the disapproval. The most serious effect of this currently is the likely passage of new laws in Australia banning right-to-die societies there from communicating with their members -- a tragic step backwards. Below is an editorial from today's 'Japan Times' which tackles this problem fairly calmly
and positively (Derek Humphry) .

Japan Times article:
Halting Internet-assisted suicide

The number of cases in which people solicit others on the Internet to commit group suicide is on the rise. To deal with this, a panel of learned people set up by the National Police Agency has called on Internet providers to disclose the names, addresses and birth dates of people sending such messages.
This information is necessary because people who give notice of suicide on the Internet cannot be protected unless they are identified. However, the police will be required to tighten procedures to prevent abuse, and the provider business as a whole, in order to protect human life, will have to be thoroughly prepared to disclose customer information as much as possible despite the obvious conflict with the principle of guarding the confidentiality of communications.

According to the NPA, the number of people committing suicide in Japan reached more than 34,000 the year before last, surpassing 30,000 for the six consecutive year. Last year there were 55 Internet suicides involving 19 cases. Although this number is very small compared with the total suicide toll, the phenomenon is peculiar in that complete strangers with different motivations are getting together over the Internet to plan their deaths together.

For this reason, it may be difficult even for the people closest to a troubled person to detect any signs of a suicide wish. T

Auto-euthanasia is available

2005-05-17T17:38:00.000-07:00

ONE WAY TO DIE BY CHOICE -- LEGALLY, QUICKLY

For years, disposable helium canisters for inflating party balloons were only available in the USA, Canada and Mexico. No longer.

There is NOW first hand evidence that such equipment is available commercially --- usually in toy stores or party celebration stores/shops -- in Germany, the British Isles and Australia. Probably other nations as well. Call local store/shops to find out.

The use of inert gas for self-deliverance from a terminal or hopeless illness is now available virtually worldwide. I estimate several hundred adult persons in North America have used this method. This type of gas inside a plastic bag produces coma in seconds and brain death in several minutes. It is not suffocation.

How inert gases -- helium, nitrogen, argon -- can be used for hastening one's own death is outlined in "Final Exit" 3rd edition paperback, and refined and clarified in the new
"Addendum to Final Exit". Illustrations included.

The inert gas method can be carried out solely by the 'patient' and need not involve any other person in the possible felony of 'assisted suicide.' Doctors and nurses need not be present. Your 'best friend' can be safely in the same room. But the technique does require some simple planning and testing. And, of course, forethought about the significance to others.

Afterwards, the equipment is simply thrown in a trash dumpster.

For extensive further information, please visit this site:
finalexit.org/ergo-store

Derek Humphry, journalist & author
President, ERGO. (Euthanasia Research & Guidance Organization)
24829 Norris Lane, Junction City, Oregon 97448 USA.
Fax/ Ph: +541-998-1873 ERGO: www.finalexit.org/ and
www.assistedsuicide.org

BOOKS/FILMS at http://finalexit.org/ergo-store
BLOG:

Censorship of euthanasia news & views

2005-05-16T12:05:00.000-07:00

THE 'INDEX ON CENSORSHIP' ORGANIZATION REPORTED AS FOLLOWS:

" A bipartisan Australian Senate committee has backed a Government bill to outlaw the use of the internet to encourage suicide.
" The Criminal Code Amendment (Suicide Related Materials) Bill would introduce fines of up to A$110,000 (US$83,300) for using the internet to access, transmit or make available material that counsels or incites
suicide. It would also make it an offence to simply discuss voluntary euthanasia on an internet chat group, say the bill's critics.
"The act's aim is to prevent suicide pacts from being organised online and stop strangers meeting in remote areas to carry them out. The minority opposition Australian Democrats argue that the law could make the online purchase of a book on voluntary euthanasia illegal, while allowing its legal sale over a shop counter. It would also be powerless to block access to foreign websites on suicide, assisted suicide and euthanasia. "

{Index on Censorship can be found at http://www.indexonline.org/}

[FOOTNOTE: While 'Final Exit' (by myself) cannot be downloaded online, it can be purchased online and then mailed to a buyer. It is also widely available in bookstores and on internet booksellers. Such transactions happen daily, all over the world, many to Australia. How they could block such sales in Australia remains a puzzle; this is a troubling development overall, particularly for EXIT INTERNATIONAL in Australia and its valuable work. Censorship must be fought by every means possible or we cannot claim to be 'free' people.
The proponents of this Australia law are using the crazy group suicides (much publicized) of some persons in Asia as their springboard for this law, while actually they are out to block the progresssive work of Dr. Philip Nitschke and his Australian organization EXIT INTERNATIONAL on the right-to-choose to die.

-----Derek Humphry 16 May 05 ]

Informed literature on assisted suicide

2005-05-13T15:24:00.000-07:00

The most informed books, pamphlets and documents on the right-to-die (assisted suicide, self-deliverance, voluntary euthanasia, Living Wills) are on the web bookstore run by Derek Humphry, founder of the original Hemlock Society, and today president of the Euthanasia Research and Guidance Organization (nonprofit).
This is a subject which needs advance thinking and careful planning. Read it up!
And now there is a new Addendum to the bestselling paperback "Final Exit" which includes guidance on inert gases. Illustrated, too.

Stay well! Be well! Derek Humphry (Oregon USA)

The Good Euthanasia Guide

2005-05-13T03:53:00.000-07:00

The only desk reference book for planning to die well is "The Good Euthanasia Guide"

(Not available in bookstores) ISBN 978-0-9768283-1-0

Contact details for every right-to-die group in the world.
Also has a useful lists of books, films, a chronology of right-to die history.

Can be ordered as paperback copy ($14), or downloaded ($10) at http://www.finalexit.org/ergo-store/

Blog conversations on right-to-die matters at
http://self-deliverance.blogspot.com

World laws on euthanasia at
http://www.assistedsuicide.org

--------
The Blog of Derek Humphry, founder of the Original Hemlock Society (1980) and the Euthanasia Research and Guidance Organization (1993) Author of the bestseller 'Final Exit'. Oregon, USA - ergo@efn.org

"The right to die at a time and in a manner of one's own choosing is the ultimate civil liberty."

-Derek Humphry

What was the Schiavo circus all about

2005-04-23T10:32:00.000-07:00

Commentary, by Derek Humphry

Should we worry?

At the populist height of the Terri Schiavo case in Florida, involving the disconnection of her life-support equipment after 14 years to allow her to die, I was asked to speak on March 28, 2005, to an audience in New York City at the 92^nd St Y Club (A long-established Jewish community center). When booked months earlier, I had intended to speak about voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide, but the audience of some 60 were only interested in the implications of the Schiavo case, which was deluging the screen and print media that week. What did it mean for them now? How would it affect their end of life? This was what I improvised for the inflamed subject of that day:

Were I some sort of trained philosopher or ethicist, perhaps I could provide you with a pat paragraph about what is the essence of our cause, and my purpose of speaking to you today.

The print media, the television channels, the air waves currently are choked with loose language ranging from ‘brutal murder’ to ‘death with dignity’ and it is hard to know what to make of what is going on. The Florida case is worrying and unsettling to the average person.

Perhaps this definition will help adjust our attitudes: “The right to choose to die in a manner and at a time of one’s own choosing is the ultimate civil liberty. Because of the astonishing advances in medical technology it behooves all thinking individuals to decide in advance of death to document their wishes. Also to make known their desire for – or rejection of – a rational suicide in order to escape pointless, protracted suffering.”

Were it in my power, I would mandate that all persons attaining the age of eighteen be obliged to sign an advance care declaration. To be fair, it could be the reverse of what I would sign, requesting all known life-support equipment.

Advance Directives are popularly known as ‘Living Wills’ and they’ve been around in America since l978 when California introduced the first one. New York has a ‘health care proxy’ and that is most useful. In spite of the Schiavo rumpus, Florida has some of the best end-of-life laws.

We must take the uncertainty out of this issue once and for all so that the health care professionals – particularly hospice – know exactly where they stand. You also want to know where you stand.

ROWS OF VENTILATORS ?

People who want endless treatment and equipment to keep them alive will soon run society into trouble. Do we want banks of people in clinics on respirators and feeding tubes, in effect keeping dead people barely alive? Ventilating corpses?

Hospitals will be overwhelmed and the costs of health care – already steep – will bankrupt the nation. Physicians and nurses will revolt at having to provide futile care when others not terminal might be saved. Freedom of choice has its breaking point, physically, emotionally, and financially.

Of the two and a half million Americans who die every year in the natural cycle of life and death, thousands finally pass on through the ‘pulling of a plug’ because their inevitable end has come. Often the patient knows nothing about this. It is the family – hopefully backed by documents – who liase with the doctors to achieve a commonsense, negotiated death.

The Terri Schiavo case may seem important because of the huge attention it has received in the media, the courts, and the US Congress. But it is really an aberration. The media
turned a family quarrel into a major conflict because such fights are good for ratings and sales. Anti-choice politicians and religious zealots saw a swift opportunity to boost their selfish causes.

But not only have the states of America already decided on this, but so has the US Supreme Court. There is a right to die by the disconnection of life support, the court ruled in the Cruzan case, provided there is clear and convincing evidence of such a wish. Sadly (but it is hard to criticize her), Terri Schiavo at age 26 when struck down did not have an advance directive. She could not easily be released from her persistent vegetative state.

Fortunately, the courts in America stood firm behind the spouse’s right to decide for his wife despite a lengthy volley of ‘judge bashing’. In the end, the constitution worked, the courts stood firm, and Terry Schiavo was allowed her peaceful exit.

----------------------- DEREK HUMPHRY 4.23.05

The writer is the author of the bestselling book ‘Final Exit’, founder of the original Hemlock Society in l980, and today president of the Euthanasia Research and Guidance Organization, based in Oregon, USA.
Web site: www.finalexit.org

Assisted suicide, easy death

2005-04-07T17:12:00.000-07:00

A friend in need is a friend indeed, as this story of what happened in Connecticut shows, but beware of the consequences:-

A man accused of helping his friend commit suicide will not be going to prison. Instead, he will be going on probation.

Huntington Williams, aged 79, knew John Welles for about 20 years. Welles battled prostate cancer and decided he wanted to commit suicide in June last year by shooting himself.

Mr. Williams is accused of assisting in the suicide by telling him where to aim the gun and cleaning the gun. A Litchfield [CT] judge granted him accelerated rehabilitation, which means he will not go to jail.

Friends, family, and people all over the country have been extremely supportive. In Connecticut, assisted suicide is a felony and carries the charge of manslaughter.

The attorney for Mr. Williams and the prosecutor came to an agreement on what kind of punishment Williams should get and the judge agreed. Williams will be on probation for one year.

[The moral of this story is not to assist a suicide, however justifable, with a violent means, such as a gun or a knife. Safer to use lethal medications or inert gas and a plastic bag. See my book 'Final Exit' for further information. Derek Humphry]

www.finalexit.org

Euthanasia books in Spanish

2005-04-03T17:41:00.000-07:00

**********************************************************

Right-to-die books in Spanish

ERGO has available for sale the following two books in Spanish, published by Tusquets, in Barcelona:

“EL ULTIMO RECURSO” by Derek Humphry

Cuestiones practicas sobre autoliberation y suicidio asistido para moribundus.

This book is the Spanish version of the bestselling “Final Exit”

Paperback. 264 pages

$20 US (includes shipping) from ERGO.

++++++++++++++++

“EL DERECHO A MORIR” By Derek Humphry Y Ann Wickett

Comprender La Eutanasia.

Paperback. 434 pages.

This is the Spanish version of the classic book on euthanasia history,

“The Right To Die: Understanding Euthanasia”

$20 US from ERGO (includes shipping)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++=

These two books are on sale in bookstores throughout the Spanish-speaking world. But they are hard to find in the USA.

Perhaps your local library has a Spanish language section and you might like to present them with copies of these two books?

Send check or money order in US funds to

ERGO, 24829 Norris Lane, Junction City, OR 97448, USA.

*********************************************************************************

Derek Humphry, Oregon. <ergo@efn.org>

Where are they when you're dying?

2005-03-11T11:08:00.000-08:00

You can see all of the 2004 report of the Oregon Death With Dignity Act at http://egov.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/pas/docs/year7.pdf

You may have to copy and paste this URL into your browser

For me, the most interesting table is table # 4, about those present at the ingestion of the lethal overdose:

In the 37 cases, six doctors were present
In the 37 cases, 25 'other providers' were present (volunteers, family?)
In the 37 cases, six people had nobody present.

I have always believed, and pressed for, the doctors who write the lethal prescription should be present at the rational suicide which they have set in motion.

Derek Humphry, journalist & author
President, ERGO (Euthanasia Research & Guidance Organization).
24829 Norris Lane, Junction City, Oregon 97448 USA.
Fax/Ph: +541-998-1873

ERGO: www.finalexit.org &
www.assistedsuicide.org
BOOKS at ergo-store.finalexit.org
BLOG: self-deliverance.blogspot.com

Dying need a 'peaceful pill' available

2005-03-10T12:27:00.000-08:00

A Peaceful Pill Needed For The Terminally Ill
Who Want One
(Sensible suggestions solicited by Nutech.)

From the problems and statistics currently coming out of Oregon that the medical profession and the medical sciences are not interested in improving the procedure
of physician-assisted suicide.

It needs to be flawless to give people confidence in using it.

Doctors now are rarely at the bedside, even if they have prescribed the lethal overdose to be taken orally; no scientific work has been done on perfecting the sophisticated use of drugs to achieve a speedy, painless death if desired by terminally or hopelessly ill patient.

There is a organization known as New Technology in Self-Deliverance (NuTech for short) which has been working for the last five years on finding the exactly right, medically acceptable, legally safe, means of killing oneself by popping a deadly pill.

It is an ad hoc international group of some 30 physicians, pharmacists, medical technicians and social workers who meet once a year to pool their knowledge about all forms and experiences of euthanasia (help with a good death). And plan alternatives. Thus far NuTech has invented the technique of a person choosing to end his or her life with the use of inert gas inside a plastic bag. Scores of Americans have already used this method for unconsciousness within seconds and death within ten minutes. This way does not break the law because it is the patient’s own actions which cause death.

But what NuTech is truly looking for is the so-called ‘peaceful pill’ which a dying person< could elect to swallow and expire instantly. Dr. Philip Nitschke, a physician and physicist in Australia, has been leading the hunt for this, as have noted physicians like Dr. Ben Chabot and Dr. Pieter Admiraal in the Netherlands. It has not yet been found but they are working at it.

--Derek Humphry
Junction City, Oregon

The writer founded the Hemlock Society in 1980 and authored the #1 bestseller ‘Final Exit’. He is the international liason officer for NuTech.

Weaknesses in Oregon assisted suicide

2005-03-04T15:02:00.000-08:00

The Oregonian newspaper and the news agencies are today reporting the failed physician-assisted suicide of David Pruitt. He took the doctor-prescribed overdose but woke up 62 hours later. He died of his cancer three weeks later.

Here's my view of what wrong with the Oregon law:

The miserable path to death of David Pruitt ("Why Am I Not Dead") shows why the Oregon Death With Dignity Act which permits physician-assisted suicide should be improved and strengthened.

First, at least one of the doctors who wrote the lethal prescription should be obliged to be at the bedside when it is ingested; usually they are nowhere near.

Second -- as in the Netherlands -- when the patient has elected to drink the barbiturate, a doctor should be able to give a lethal injection if the patient has not died after four hours. Barbiturates can be unreliable.

Your article quoted two cases of dying with oral ingestion of barbiturates taking 37 and 48 hours. The only legal, medical, assisted suicide I have ever attended (by a friend who wanted me there) the man was still alive seven
hours later, and his father smothered him.

In a real and compassionate world, if we are going to allow hastened deaths by request of the terminally and hopelessly ill, then let us do it efficiently, with lethal injection overdose and bedside medical oversight.

The Oregon law as it stands allows doctors to duck out of the final supervisory responsibility.

Derek Humphry, journalist & author
President, ERGO. (Euthanasia Research & Guidance Organization)
24829 Norris Lane, Junction City, Oregon 97448 USA.
Fax/Ph: +541-998-1873

Doctors coming round to assisted suicide

2005-03-03T14:27:00.001-08:00

The medical profession is beginning to join public opinion on this subject, according to this poll:

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 3, 2005
Results of a national survey of 1,000 physicians revealed that a clear majority of physicians (57%) believe that it is ethical to assist an individual who has made a rational choice to die due to unbearable suffering, while 39% believe it is unethical.

In response to the Supreme Court's decision to hear a challenge to Oregon's Death with Dignity act -- the nation's only law on behalf of physician assisted suicide -- the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Social and Religious Research and HCD Research, conducted the survey of physicians during the last week of February. The margin of error for the study was plus or minus 3% at a 95% level of confidence.

The findings also indicated that a plurality of physicians polled (41%) endorse the legalization of physician assisted suicide under a wide variety of circumstances, while 30% support its legalization in a few cases only and 29% oppose legalizing it in all cases. {end}

DEREK HUMPHRY, author of 'Final Exit'

Derek Humphry & His New Book

2005-02-28T19:51:00.000-08:00

"The Good Euthanasia Guide 2005"  Published by ERGO/Norris Lane Press.   $14 US.  Available from www.finalexit.org/ergo-store/

The Quality of Life

2005-02-24T11:58:00.000-08:00

It would be interesting if the argument was taken up in America -- as it has in the Netherlands -- of the merits, the rightness or wrongness, of ending one's life deliberately because of age, frailty, medical problems, and tired of struggling with them. Tired of life.

This approach seems to have been taken by the US writer Hunter S Thompson who shot himself at his kitchen table this week. He was 67. He had, say his friends, medical problems and didn't relish the prospect of going on. Certainly one can say that a man like him -- the 'gonzo journalist' -- had a full life!

As is well-known, it is not a crime to commit (or 'perform' as some prefer to say) suicide. But when is it 'rational suicide' or 'self-deliverance' from a hopeless life situation? When you've had enough pain and distress, is it your own choice to leave? I think it is. Should the views of others prevail in your action? Well, that's a matter of individual circumstances and decision.

In 1978, a New York woman, Doris Portwood, wrote a ground-breaking book (Dutton, NY, out of print) called "Commonsense Suicide: The Final Right". In it, she was probably the first to set out the case for what she called 'balance-sheet suicide.' She suggested drawing up a list of one's reasons to live, and one's reasons to die. Doris took her own life many years later, in the l990s, when suffering from advanced Parkinson's Disease. She had seen her mother and sister die of this punishing disease, and refused to go the same way.

-- Derek Humphry,
president, Euthanasia Research and Guidance Organization, Oregon, USA
www.assistedsuicide.org

Will They Let Terri Schiavo Go?

2005-02-23T11:40:00.000-08:00

The death of anyone is sad -- diminishing, as the poet Donne said -- but surely it is time to be merciful to Terri Schiavo who has been in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) for 14 years. It is my hope that her feeding tubes can be disconnected as her husband wishes and she can die a dignified death in the next few days.

Or will somebody think up yet another court case? As her lawyer in Florida has said, the many court cases have made a mockery of the legal system. How many cases do you have to win to win?

Late note: It is postponed again -- until Friday!

--Derek Humphry
www.assistedsuicide.org

The Nine Justices Will Decide About Dying

2005-02-22T09:40:00.000-08:00

Today (2/22/05) the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear the case from the Federal Government claiming that the 1994 Oregon Death With Dignity Act -- which permits physician-assiseed suicide by the oral drinking of prescribed barbiturates -- breaks Federal laws on the use of dangerous drugs.

The State of Oregon replies that such actions, and uses, are within medical practice, which are governed by the states.

The Bush administration argues -- of course -- that assisted suicide, even for dying people, is not a 'medical practice' and therefore the drugs are being used illegally.

We won't get the Supreme Court's ruling until the end of this year.

--Derek Humphry
www.assistedsucide.org

Jack Kevorkian Address

2005-02-14T17:00:00.000-08:00

Assisted-suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian was back in his cell at Michigan's Thumb Correctional facility Monday after undergoing double hernia surgery.

Kevorkian, nicknamed "Dr. Death" for assisting in the suicides of more than 100 terminally ill patients, had bilateral hernia surgery Friday and had been expected to recuperate at Foote Hospital in Jackson, Mich. He was transferred to the hospital under 24-hour guard last Thursday.

Kevorkian, 76, who is in poor health reportedly with hepatitis C and circulatory problems, Sunday was returned to his prison cell at the Thumb Correctional Center where he is serving a 10-to-25-year sentence, the Detroit Free Press said.

Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder in the videotaped poisoning of a man suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease in 1998.

==================
Address:
Dr. Jack Kevorkian # 284797
Thumb Correctional Facility
3225 John Conley Dr
LAPEER MI 48446 USA
==================

-- Derek Humphry
www.finalexit.org

Addendum to book 'Final Exit'

2005-02-14T12:22:00.000-08:00

A new, illustrated Addendum to the 3rd edition of the book "Final Exit". Only available as an eBook/PDF download ($5 US) through the ERGO-Store.

New purchases of Final Exit, 3rd edition paperback from the ERGO-Store includes the Addendum at no extra charge. Addendum is not available in bookstores.

--Derek Humphry
www.finalexit.org

Million Dollar Baby

2005-02-06T09:28:00.000-08:00

OPINION: Now that I've seen the movie 'Million Dollar Baby', it is a superbly written, executed, and acted. Essentially, there are two stories -- the first of a woman's ambition to make something of herself; second, her accident and her determination to do something about her condition. Surely the right to die in a manner and at a time one's own choosing is the ultimate civil liberty.

Derek Humphry
www.finalexit.org

Rational suicide

2005-01-28T13:25:00.000-08:00

The media in Canada is reporting that an Ontario man who is terminally ill will take his life tonight (Friday) by using a plastic bag filled with helium. The man says there will be 50 people present at his suicide. Interesting to see if this goes through.

- Derek Humphry
www.finalexit.org

Books, Video and Documents available at ERGO-Store

2005-01-25T23:10:00.000-08:00

Wednesday 26 January, 2005

Resources available at the ERGO-Store
http://ergo-store.finalexit.org

Books and eBooks by Derek Humphry:
Final Exit, 3rd Edition
The Good Euthanasia Guide 2004
Jean's Way
Lawful Exit
Let Me Die Before I Wake

Video by Derek Humphry:
Final Exit: The Video

ERGO Documents:
Advance Directive (Living Will)
Self-Deliverance (Using a Plastic Bag)

Essays on Euthanasia by Derek Humphry

2005-01-25T20:46:00.000-08:00

Wednesday 26 January, 2005

Recent essays at www.assistedsuicide.org include:

The Future of the Right-To-Die Movement

Assisted Suicide Laws Around the World

Past essays covered helping a loved one to die, how euthanasia is practiced in the Netherlands, and an examination of the Nazi so-called ‘euthanasia’.

Join ERGO

2005-01-25T20:24:00.000-08:00

Wednesday 26 January, 2005

Become a Member Today. Help ERGO In It’s Work To Achieve Choices In Dying.

Running a nonprofit organization with worldwide visibility like ERGO requires funding and support from people like you. Find out how you can help to further the cause of choice in dying.

http://www.finalexit.org/membership.html

Visit "Euthanasia World Directory"

2005-01-25T20:12:00.000-08:00

Euthanasia Research & Guidance Organization (ERGO)

The Euthanasia World Directory
Hosted by ERGO and Derek Humphry
at http://www.finalexit.org

Self-Deliverance / Voluntary Euthanasia / Assisted Suicide Information Resource

Some items you can find at http://www.finalexit.org :

Connection to the ERGO-Store
Full descriptions of books, printed documents and Final Exit video from Derek Humphry and ERGO. Some books and documents available as downloadable eBooks and eDocs.
http://ergo-store.finalexit.org

Essays by Derek Humphry
http://www.finalexit.org/booklit.html

Court Opinions and Law - Oregon's Death with Dignity Act
http://www.finalexit.org/orlaws.html

World Laws on Assisted Suicide
http://www.finalexit.org/worldlaws.html

Glossary of Terms Concerning End of Life Issues
http://www.finalexit.org/more-glossary.html

Who's What & What's What FAQ
http://www.finalexit.org/who-faq.html

Bibliography
http://www.finalexit.org/media-books.html

Chronology
http://www.finalexit.org/more-chronology.html

Links to Other Right-to-Die Organizations

New ERGO-Store Now Online

2005-01-25T20:07:00.000-08:00

Friday 21 January, 2005

Derek Humphry and ERGO announces the opening of the new ERGO-Store at http://ergo-store.finalexit.org.

The new ERGO-Store features:

* Complete descriptions of all items available through ERGO including books, eBooks, eDocs, printed documents and the Final Exit Video.

* SSL secure purchasing.

* Purchase with credit card, e-check, PayPal, regular check and money order.

* Domestic and International shipping.

* Post and/or read customer reviews of all the ERGO-Store products. (reviews require moderator approval).

* Subscribe to an ERGO-Store product newsletter to keep informed on the latest ERGO-Store product updates.

* ERGO-Store best sellers list.

* Ability to search entire ERGO-Store (search on keywords or phrases).

* Refer-a-Friend option allows you to easily inform others of products and information presented in the ERGO-Store.

ERGO will be updating and improving the store website thougout the coming year. If you have any comments or questions please email them to the ERGO Store.

Thank you,

Derek Humphry
ERGO/ERGO-Store
ergo-store-support@finalexit.org
http://ergo-store.finalexit.org