Dicing with Death !

Death is something most people fear !   It is the inevitability that we all face eventually and most hope that they will die peacefully in their sleep.  We never know when the "Grim Reaper "will tap us on the shoulder and tell us our time is up !

It seems that there are very different views doing battle between those determined to keep us alive and those who view death as a personal decision.  When this intrudes into the need for legislation it leads to clashes between the various forms of religion - and terrifies the politicians who will be held to account by the public on the basis of their vote.

We are about to see a class action in the courts to force a clearer warning on a form of antidepressant known in medical circles ass SSRI class.   Some users claim that it promotes both moods of aggression - and thoughts of suicide.  Obviously, those needing antidepressants are looking for a corrective for what is really a mood swing and it is quite possible that thoughts of suicide may be a normal aspect of their malady, but some people are prepared to go to court to seek intervention between doctor and patient.

There is another hot debate over pain killers containing Coedine.   These are addictive and there is pressure to make them only available with a prescription from a doctor.  At present, they are off-the-shelf available at pharmacies.   Last year there were 1437 deaths in Australia that were linked to Coedine and it is quite possible that many of these were deliberate as an overdose of Coedine is usually fatal.  This seems to be legislation aimed mainly at suicide prevention.

Which brings us to the crux of the matter - doctor assisted suicide !   Our politicians are desperate to avoid a bill on that question requiring them to publicly vote because it is divisive in the arena of public opinion and they fear alienating the votes of those opposed for religious reasons.

Unfortunately, some diseases result in a terrible death for those unfortunate enough to face that form of dieing.   We have taken a half step towards assisted death by the creation of hospices which are where the terminally ill can spend their final days with sympathetic care, an absence of rules such as "visiting hours "- and an understanding that pain relief will take precedence over safety, even when it reduces whatever lifespan that remains.

Of course, this is simply the "nudge" "wink " way of overcoming a very strict aspect of the law.   It is a criminal offense for a doctor or any other person to assist in bringing about the death of another person, and harsh penalties apply.   This rests on the moral conscience of each person administering to terminally ill patients and the law in Australia pretends to be blind  - and carefully looks the other way !

Some other world countries have been more courageous.   Laws have been relaxed to allow not only the terminally ill but those with a legitimate reason to want to end their life to obtain the necessary ingredients to make that happen - with safeguards in place to allow a reasonable time delay to ensure that a "change of mind " may have due consideration.

We seem split between two schools of thought.   One seems determined to put all methods of a painless death securely out of reach of those intending to end their lives and reduce them to horror methods such as jumping off high buildings - with consequent risk to innocent people, and a general consensus in the community that life's end is a personal decision which should be in the control of each and every citizen.

Clearly, this is a matter that should be decided by a referendum !