Voluntary assisted dying bill wil increase patient protection

The Tasmanian Greens Member for Franklin Nick McKim today called for truth in the debate about the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill (2013).

Mr McKim said evidence has been given to the Tasmanian Parliament as far back as 2009 that compassionate doctors already hasten the death of patients, but without any legislative framework to safeguard the interests of patients.

“With the best of intentions, doctors in Tasmania already administer elevated levels of drugs to terminally ill people, knowing that it will hasten the death of the patient” Mr McKim said.

“I believe that we need to acknowledge that this practice already happens for the most compassionate of reasons, however we should also acknowledge the need for a stronger framework to protect patients.”

“The Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill will provide better and stronger safeguards for patients,” Mr McKim said.

• Hansard excerpt from Dr Gerry McGushin to the Parliamentary Committee Inquiry into Nick McKim’s Dying With Dignity Bill (2009):
Dr McGUSHIN – …I have been in the position many times of providing palliative care relief of symptoms where I know for a fact that by ramping up the morphine and rendering the patient either comatose or semi-comatose, I am going to hasten that person’s death, but we are talking about only a few hours, days- it’s not months. I have never had any problem with that. The doctors in Tasmania do not have a problem with that.

Aug 10 2009, pp.18-19

Ms O’CONNOR – Dr McGushin, at one point in your testimony we you were talking about how medical practitioners administer palliation to the terminally ill and the proposition that I put to Mr Hidding earlier that there are situations where out of compassion and only out of compassion medical practitioners may increase the dosage of a palliative drug, knowing that relief will be provided but also that death will be hastened. Do you accept that that does happen?

Dr McGUSHIN – Yes, I accept that that happens and I do it all the time and so do other doctors. But that is not what we are actually talking about because the primary intention is not to end that person’s life, it is to relieve their symptoms.

Ms O’CONNOR – But in administering the elevated level of that drug you are doing so in the full knowledge that it is likely to hasten the sufferer’s death.

Dr McGUSHIN – I have no problem with that at all, it is good palliative care.

10 August 2009, p.23

• Hansard Excerpt from Dr Paul Dunne from evidence to the Joint Standing Committee on Community Development:

Dr DUNNE – Some of what we do in palliative care will hasten death. That is a given.

24 August 2009, p.90
Nick McKim MP Greens Leader