The Saba Medal, awarded every two years to the person or organization that has done most during that time for the World Federation of Right to Die Societies, was awarded to the Japan Society for Dying with Dignity.
An excerpt of a speech by Sidney Rosoff, the first president of the World Federation about how the organization got its start.
Taken from the World Right-to-Die Newsletter issue no. 46, Januray 2005.
The presentation of the first Marilynne Seguin Award to Beatriz Gomez, founding member and long-time President of Fundacion Pro Derecho A Morir Dignamente (DMD) of Colombia was made at the banquet for attendees on the final night of the World Conference of Right to Die Societies.
Taken from the World Right-to-Die Newsletter issue no. 46, Januray 2005.
A physician was acquitted who administered sleeping drugs and morphine to a terminally ill patient and did not report it. He argued that it was Terminal Sedation (TS) and thus a “normal” medical decision and had nothing to do with euthanasia.
The NVVE is preparing the publication of a book in which experiences with euthanasia from the point of view of the patient/relatives will be described as a form of assessment /evaluation of the law. Expected publication date: January 2005.
Taken from the World Right-to-Die Newsletter issue no. 46, Januray 2005.
The Commission established to monitor the operation of the assisted dying law has issued its first, unanimous, report. Its main findings are that the number of cases of assisted dying has stabilized after the first few months and nearly half of them take place at the patient’s home. The vast majority of cases involved cancer and to a lesser extent neuromuscular diseases; they included some cases where death was not imminent.
Taken from the World Right-to-Die Newsletter issue no. 46, Januray 2005.
According to a survey conducted by DGHS, 84% of the population would not lose confidence in their doctor if s/he helped an incurably ill person to end their life; only 20% thought they would lose confidence in a doctor who provided active and direct assistance in the case of an incurably ill patient.
Taken from the World Right-to-Die Newsletter issue no. 46, Januray 2005.
Taken from the World Right-to-Die Newsletter issue no. 46, Januray 2005.
Taken from the World Right-to-Die Newsletter issue no. 46, Januray 2005.
Lesley Martin, a nurse who helped her terminally ill mother to die with an injection of morphine and described it in her book, To Die Like a Dog, was convicted of attempted murder and is serving a 15 month sentence in a New Zealand prison.
Taken from the World Right-to-Die Newsletter issue no. 46, Januray 2005.
A proposal modeled after the Oregon Death with Dignity Act has been introduced in Scotland by the youngest member of its Parliament, 30-year-old Jeremy Purvis. Friends at the End (FATE) is supporting this model because the patient is in complete control and a physician is only the “instrument” who writes the prescription. Disability groups who fear that physicians would give “euthanasia injections” would be less threatened.
Taken from the World Right-to-Die Newsletter issue no. 46, Januray 2005.
A Canadian great-grandmother, Evelyn Martens from Victoria, charged with aiding and abetting the suicides of two terminally ill women in 2002, was acquitted by a jury after a prolonged preliminary hearing in 2003 and a recent trial. Testimony, even from prosecution witnesses, made it clear that both women had carefully planned their self-deliverance and that they were clearly suffering unbearably from their illnesses.
Taken from the World Right-to-Die Newsletter issue no. 46, Januray 2005.
