Hundreds of NZ doctors admit hastening patient deaths

10.00pm

Nearly 700 doctors have admitted hastening the deaths of terminally ill patients despite legal constraints, a study in the New Zealand Medical Journal revealed today.

A study published in the latest issue of the journal revealed 693 GPs who had responded anonymously to a national survey had participated in a physician-assisted death over a 12-month period.

Thirty-nine had performed "some kind of action which would conform to everyday concepts of physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia".

Most hastened deaths occurred even though palliative care was available. The study also said that in 15 cases nurses had given the patients life-ending drugs.

In 380 cases the physician-assisted death action was taken without discussion with the patient, rendering the action "legally dubious", said the survey's authors, doctors Kay Mitchell of the Department of Psychology of Auckland and British clinical psychology professor Glynn Owens.

The patient being too ill to discuss the decision was the main reason given for no discussion, but in 88 cases where the patient was judged competent by the doctor, there was no discussion.

In 65 cases the patient had expressed a prior wish to have their suffering shortened.

The authors said: "Legal or not, physician-assisted death is an international reality and New Zealand is no exception with such actions occurring in an apparently palliative rich environment…

"The results of this study indicate that physician-assisted death is at time occurring without consultation with the patient."

The authors said doctors and family were torn between conflicting demands -- trying to relieve suffering but also conforming to legal requirements. The situation was problematic for everyone.

Doctors carried a heavy burden, patients were unable to have access to options to which they may feel entitled and families were kept in the dark or carried a similar burden to the physician.

The doctors who participated in the survey made some poignant comments about their dilemmas.

"I feel much more respect must be made of the wishes of the person dying. More discussion needs to be had on the influence/wishes of caregivers," one wrote.

But another said only the doctor and patient should be involved in decision-making. "(It is) very dangerous territory."

The issue was complicated by secrecy, the authors noted.

"When physician-assisted death is secretly provided for the patient, the emotional coping of those who knew or were having euthanasia may be complicated by being unable to share their experience.

"Research indicates that the psychological effect for doctors providing physician-assisted death is profound, suggesting that doctors who do so in secret are at risk when they cannot talk through the actions they propose, or have taken."

Last August, New Zealand First deputy leader Peter Brown tried to introduce legislation that would have allowed the terminally ill to seek help to end their lives.

The bill was defeated in Parliament last August.

After euthanasia campaigner Lesley Martin was sentenced to 15 months jail for the attempted murder of her terminally ill mother, Mr Brown said he would resurrect the bill.

Martin, a former intensive care nurse, was found guilty on March 31 on one count of attempting to murder her mother, Joy Martin, by injecting her with 60mg of morphine.

Mrs Martin, who had rectal cancer, died on May 28 1999. A police investigation followed her death, but no arrests were made, until three years later when Martin published her book To Die Like A Dog in which she described administering morphine to her mother.

- NZPA