Assisted dying

A really difficult issue this, touching on the deepest aspects of what it is to be human.  I certainly don’t want to go out screaming or panicking, but I’m not at all sure that’s where we are right now in most cases.  Let me explain.

I have been present at the deaths of all four of mine and Mrs D’s parents.  One of them (at 88) was completely out of it already.  Of the others, all in their 90s, two positively wanted to go and the third was taciturn on the subject, but didn’t seem overly fretful.  All were quite ill.

Here’s the thing.  At the end, they all went “peacefully” with a legful of morphine (in case you don’t know, UK “palliative care” includes having a morphine-cocktail[1] pump strapped to your thigh) – administered by a senior nursing Sister and, (since the pump is authorised by a doctor) evidently approved a few days earlier by a doctor. 

These four were in three different establishments: two hospitals and a nursing home (private, but which is qualified to administer end-of-life treatment in house[2]).  It was, quite obviously, the standard procedure, or “pathway” as everything in the NHS is termed these days.  I don’t know if it’s universal across the whole service.

This seems to me to be humane, and pretty satisfactory for very many circumstances.  I might even say: that’s how I want to go.  It almost seems like the old system of legend, where at some point a doctor would “take a view” and quietly do whatever he did.

What would happen, though, if it all becomes formalised – two doctors, a panel, lawyers or whatever?  You might argue that formality is necessary for cases where people are not already on their deathbeds, but are Definitely Doomed under whatever are the definitions of an assisted dying law (MND and other ghastly cases); and declare that Now is the Time.  But what about the poor old person who at present can be eased out humanely at the end by Sister, as in my family’s experiences, and for whom a big loop through paperwork and multiple sign-offs is not going to be remotely possible?  Will the duty doctor be obliged to refuse the morphine because it’s just not allowed any more?   

I haven’t listened to the Parliamentary proceedings: but does anyone in debate dare to mention the rather satisfactory (IMHO) status quo?  None of us fancy MND – but which of us wants to be deprived of the morphine at the end?

All very difficult.  What do we realistic grown-ups think?

ND 

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[1] There’s more than just morphine involved: there is tranquiliser, plus choking and vomiting suppressants.

[2] Which is why one of my Aged Ps chose that particular home, having had their fill of NHS corridors.