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  • 25 Aug 2021 2:21 PM | Pip Patston (Administrator)

    EOLC Society National President Mary Panko is pleased to announce that Society member Philip Patston is one of only eleven people NZ-wide who has been appointed to the SCENZ group, a statutory consultancy body required by the End of Life Choice Act 2019.

    Philip is Managing Director of Diversity New Zealand. His company promotes diversity and belonging as a cultural norm and a force for social improvement. You can read Philip’s post on the EOLC debate here. He debunks a lot of myths.

    Philip’s expertise lies in understanding the barriers encountered by the disability community in everyday life and the potential for mandated safeguards to be overlooked due to assumptions too freely given. He has personal experience of living with a disability.

    “I’m committed to ensuring disabled people will have the same entitlements and protections as anyone else related to assisted dying,” he says. “Likewise I want to see equity and dignified access for other communities.”

    Members of the SCENZ group are appointed for a period of 2 years. Congratulations and thanks, Philip!

  • 21 Aug 2021 1:03 PM | Pip Patston (Administrator)


    We extend our sympathies to the family of Sir Michael Cullen, a champion of assisted dying legalisation, as he was a champion of so many other good causes.  Sir Michael died on 19 August from lung cancer.  We thank him for his advocacy for a compassionate end to life at a time when the movement for the right to die with dignity needed a voice of his gravitas.

    Read more here »


  • 03 Aug 2021 9:19 AM | Pip Patston (Administrator)

    Source: 1 NEWS

    A new statutory body has been established ahead of euthanasia becoming legal in New Zealand in November. 

    The Support and Consultation for End of Life in New Zealand group (SCENZ) is charged with maintaining and providing a list of medical practitioners and psychiatrists as part of the service when required. 

    The 11-person group will “support the development of the standards of care for medicines as part of the implementation of the [End of Life Choice] Act". 

    Appointed by the Director-General of Health, the team will serve a term for two years. 

    "The calibre of candidates was extremely high, and the members together bring significant clinical and health and disability sector experience,” Dr Bloomfield said.

    “The SCENZ group brings collective experience in the awareness of Te Ao Māori and an understanding of Tikanga Māori; clinical expertise, expertise in ethics and law, and the disability sector; and includes representation of the views of patients, whānau and the community.

    "Membership includes health professionals, among them a psychiatrist, a pharmacist, and a nurse practitioner, all of them currently practising.”

    The group includes: 

    • Dr Caroline Ansley - a general practitioner based in Christchurch
    • Dr Michael Austen - a Wellington-based specialist physician in occupational and environmental medicine and urgent care
    • Dr Kynan Bazley - currently a general practitioner based in Nelson
    • Heather Browning - a director and owner of a company providing service audits and projects, largely in the disability sector
    • Dr Gary Cheung - currently a specialist old age psychiatrist working at the University of Auckland and Auckland DHB  
    • Máté Hegedus-Gaspar - currently a pharmacist and pharmacy manager based in Christchurch
    • Dr Te Hurinui Karaka-Clarke - the deputy head of school/senior lecturer at the College of Education at the University of Canterbury
    • Leanne Manson - currently a policy analyst Māori for the New Zealand Nurses Organisation based in Wellington
    • Philip Patston - a company director and owner based in Auckland
    • Dr Jackie Robinson - a senior lecturer and nurse practitioner at the University of Auckland
    • Dr Jessica Young - a post-doctoral fellow at the School of Health, Victoria University of Wellington

    SCENZ will also work closely with the secretariat of the assisted dying service.

    Euthanasia becomes legally available in the country from 7 November this year.



  • 25 Jun 2021 10:16 AM | Pip Patston (Administrator)

    Source: Go Gentle Australia

    In breaking news, South Australia has become the fourth Australian state to legalise voluntary assisted dying - and the second this year!

    Finally, after 25 years and 17 bills, SA's Lower House has this morning approved final amendments and ratified the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2020.

    It now heads to the Governor for royal assent. The law's implementation period is yet to be confirmed, but we expect it will be no longer than 18 months.

    We applaud everyone who made this moment possible

    Kyam Maher MLC who wrote and introduced this private member's bill to the Upper House; Susan Close MP, whose joint sponsorship and stewardship was instrumental in the bill's success in the Lower House.

    Voluntary Assisted Dying SA (VADSA), expertly led by Frances Coombe, Anne Bunning, Lainie Anderson and Justine Firth, and flanked by a dedicated membership.

    Indefatigable local advocates Angie Miller, Ceara Rickard, Jacqui Possingham, Jan Kemble, Jane Qualmann, Kym Watson, Liz Habermann and Susie Byrne.

    And every advocate, past and present, who bravely shared their stories, contacted MPs and volunteered their precious time.

    This historic achievement honours those who are no longer with us, but whose courageous advocacy was instrumental in changing MPs' hearts and minds.

    Go Gentle Australia is proud to stand alongside these local heroes. Our evidence-based resources, including the Better Off Dead podcast and our e-books and submissions, were referenced numerous times throughout the parliamentary debate and played a central role in this Bill's success.

    Almost 12 million Australians now live in a state with VAD laws.

    But we won't rest until all of us have access to compassionate and humane choice at the end of life.

    Queensland will vote on their bill in September, with NSW and the Territories to follow.


  • 10 Jun 2021 12:27 PM | Pip Patston (Administrator)

    Source: ABC

    A bill to legalise euthanasia has passed South Australia's Lower House for the first time and is now all but certain to become law.


    Key points:

    • MPs debated the legislation into the early hours of Thursday
    • Several amendments were added to the bill and it now has to go back to the Upper House to be ratified
    • If endorsed, South Australia will become the fourth state in the country to legalise assisted dying

    The major milestone was the 17th attempt in 26 years to legalise voluntary assisted dying in South Australia.

    MPs debated the legislation for six hours into the early hours of Thursday before voting 33 to 11 in favour of giving terminally ill patients the right to request a lethal drug to end their lives.

    Several amendments were added to the bill, which now has to go back to the Upper House to be ratified before euthanasia can be legalised.

    If endorsed there, South Australia will become the fourth state in the country to legalise euthanasia.

    A man in a suit speaks to people holding protest signs on the steps of a classical building

    The bill was introduced to the Lower House by Labor MP Susan Close, who said it was a historic night for South Australia.

    "It will be, in my view, the right thing, but importantly in the view of countless South Australians, something that they will be grateful we took on, we did seriously, and I hope turned into law," she said.

    The bill was first introduced to the Upper House by Labor MP Kyam Maher and passed in May after members voted 14 to 7 in favour.

    Mr Maher said he became an advocate for voluntary assisted dying after witnessing his mother die in pain from cancer.

    "After she passed away I knew, being a supporter wasn't enough anymore, I had to do everything I could," he said.

    "We heard stories tonight about other people who had had those same types of moments. It was emotional, and it was Parliament and our democracy at its best.

    "It showed how Parliament can and should be."

    A 19th century classical building with columns

    Late on Wednesday night MPs went through the 117 clauses, scrutinising the finer details and debating amendments.

    One of the amendments would allow private hospitals to exercise conscientious objection to euthanasia and instead refer patients seeking the procedure to other institutions.

    Opposition leader Peter Malinauskas supported the amendment and said contemplating the bill had weighed on him in recent months.

    "It is a subject, quite frankly … I personally have struggled with," he said.

    If the amended bill is endorsed by the Upper House it will go to the Governor for royal assent.

    After that, the new laws are expected to come into effect within 18 to 24 months.

    Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania have already made voluntary assisted dying legal.

    SA's legislation, which is modelled on Victoria's laws, includes over 70 safeguards and has been described as among the most conservative in the world.

    Eligible patients must be 18 year or over, an Australian citizen and have lived in South Australia for at least one year.

    They must have a terminal condition deemed to cause intolerable suffering and expected to cause death within weeks or months.

    The process requires approval by two separate doctors within a prescribed time frame.


  • 28 May 2021 4:33 PM | Pip Patston (Administrator)

    Source: NZ Doctor

    Government officials are assessing whether there are enough health work­ers to provide assisted-dying services in every region, says former NZMA chair Kate Baddock.


    Dr Baddock has discussed issues such as workforce, and who might or might not want to be involved in New Zea­land’s scheme, with Ministry of Health officials overseeing its implementation.

    “They are just working through what that distribution across New Zealand might look like, whether it’s sufficient for their needs,” says the Warkworth GP and practice co-owner.

    Asked whether she is confident the ministry will have the scheme ready to go by its 7 November start date, Dr Bad­dock says, “So far, they have managed to achieve their timelines, but we are getting to the pointy end. I’m confident they understand the time pressures and issues that need to be resolved.”

    Before Dr Baddock’s term as chair ended on 18 May, she and association chief executive Lesley Clarke attended stakeholder meetings with the ministry implementation team. Dr Baddock says the association is working with the ministry because, despite the NZMA’s opposition to physician-assisted dying, it is imperative doctors understand their role and obligations under the End of Life Choice Act.

    Issues that have been aired but not fully worked through include accredita­tion of end-of-life facilities; who might be needed in addition to the medical workforce; education of the public and providers of the service; and funding of both training and service provision.

    Speaking to New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa before Budget 2021 was an­nounced, Dr Baddock said ministry of­ficials indicated they had put in a Budget bid. She expected the Budget to provide money for assisted dying.

    In an update on its website, the min­istry says the first online training mod­ule about the act and health practitioners’ obligations, including the right to conscientious objection, will be available this month.


  • 06 May 2021 6:43 PM | Pip Patston (Administrator)

    The Ministry of Health are putting out regular update sheets, showing their progress and future plans for the practical implementation of the End of Life Choice Act. We encourage everyone to sign up to receive these by clicking here »

    If you have any contacts who might be interested, medical or otherwise, please pass this information to them.


  • 06 May 2021 5:16 PM | Pip Patston (Administrator)

    Source: ABC

    South Australia is one step closer to legalising voluntary euthanasia after the state's Upper House voted in support of the voluntary assisted dying bill.

    Rally

    Key points:

    • 14 Legislative Councillors voted in favour of the bill, seven MLCs opposed it
    • It is the 17th attempt to pass a voluntary assisted dying bill through the state's Parliament
    • The bill will go to the Lower House for a final vote

    Legislative Council members voted 14 to 7 in favour of the proposed legislation late on Wednesday night.

    It was the 17th attempt to pass the measure through South Australia's Parliament in 26 years.

    If passed in the Lower House, the proposed new laws will likely to come into force in the state within 18 to 24 months.

    The bill, which is modelled on Victoria's voluntary dying laws, includes 70 safeguards and requires approval by two separate doctors within a prescribed time frame.

    It proposes access to voluntary euthanasia for people aged 18 years and over who have lived in South Australia for at least one year and have been diagnosed with an incurable illness, disease or medical condition.

    Their terminal condition must be deemed to cause suffering and expected to cause death within weeks or months.


    Shadow Attorney-General Kyam Maher discusses the bill with ABC Radio Adelaide's Ali Clarke.Download 1.2 MB

    Labor MLC and author of the bill Kyam Maher said it was a respectful and deeply emotional debate.

    "I want to thank the many South Australians who have been in touch with me on this issue over the last six months. It has been a rare privilege indeed to share some of the most intimate and difficult moments of your life," the Shadow Attorney-General said.

    "The fact that you take your time in those last precious moments to try and ensure that others don't have to suffer and go through what you do is an extraordinary thing.

    "It's the first time we've passed voluntary assisted dying through a chamber of Parliament in South Australia and now it goes to the Lower House in the coming weeks."

    Concerns loved ones could feel 'pressured'

    Labor MP Clare Scriven told Parliament she would not support the bill and voted against the proposed legislation.

    "No-one wants to see someone they love suffer, but there is clear evidence for those who care to look that safeguards in voluntary assisted dying are ignored or diluted in practice once voluntary euthanasia becomes legal," she said.

    "We need to ask do we want our loved ones to feel pressured to end their life, do we want our loved ones to feel they are a burden on society or on their family, do we want our loved ones to feel they have a duty to ask to die prematurely?"

    Liberal MP Dennis Hood also voted against the bill and instead advocated for better palliative care.

    "I contend that we should give these individuals who are in this precarious situation the opportunity for their pain to be relieved, before they take what might be the ultimate solution if you like and that is accept assisted suicide," Mr Hood said.

    The legislation will now be sent to the Lower House for a final vote.

    If passed in the Lower House, South Australia will become the fourth state in Australia to legalise euthanasia.  

    Voluntary assisted dying is lawful in Victoria, while Western Australia and Tasmania also passed legislation in favour of euthanasia.

    Tasmania's House of Assembly voted in favour of the proposed laws in March. Legislation allowing the process in Western Australian will come into effect on July 1.

    SA's Health Minister Stephen Wade voted in favour of the bill and said there was significant value in having national consistency of voluntary assisted dying legislation in Australia.

    "Consistency would support access, it would support quality and safe practice and it would reduce the pressure for what is sometimes called medical tourism," he said.

    "I support South Australia joining our sister states in enacting the Australian model of voluntary assisting dying."

    SA Greens parliamentary leader Tammy Franks said it was important that enough time was set aside for a full debate on the matter.

    "We've got it through one house, now we need to see it pass the Lower House," she said.

    "It's a conscience vote and a private members' bill, which means it often goes to languish in the one hour or so afforded for private members' business in the Lower House. I would hope that this bill will be treated differently.

    "Each and every MP will have to go through all of the fine detail, consider their position and debate the well over 100 clauses."


  • 23 Apr 2021 10:02 AM | Pip Patston (Administrator)

    OPINION PIECE – Gisborne Herald

    Jack Havill

    Doctors for End-of-Life Choice New Zealand are dismayed and frustrated to see ongoing efforts to misinform the public about the November 7 introduction of legally-available voluntary assisted dying (VAD).

    Taxpayer-funded national broadcaster RNZ's investigative journalist Guyon Espiner has put forward a series of unfounded “concerns” on behalf of a group described as “palliative care”.

    He raises fears that insufficient doctors will be found to deliver assisted dying services and that doctors will be poorly trained “as in Victoria”. The Ministry of Health found recently that nearly 30 percent of doctors surveyed were willing or potentially willing to provide assisted dying services. That's about 5000 doctors. Given our strict eligibility criteria, very few patients will qualify for assisted dying. By way of comparison, Victoria which has a population 28 percent larger than that of New Zealand, completed 124 assisted deaths in the first year of availability.

    Regarding Espiner's relayed criticisms on training, upskilling in the 21st century is routinely undertaken via online courses and is generally thought to be a satisfactory means of delivery. We cannot imagine why this should be different for assisted dying.

    The Ministry's medical advisers are currently working out which drugs to use for greatest safety and efficacy. Espiner reports that, if oral ingestion is chosen by the patient, this will be a compound of “unapproved” drugs. The compounding (mixing) of drugs is common pharmaceutical practice and is undertaken using familiar components that are used in everyday medical practice. Victoria solved the problem by opting for a single point of compounding and distribution: the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. Their compounded medication works as intended. New Zealand could simply do likewise.

    After two years of VAD practice in Victoria, there have been no failed administrations, even though most patients there self-administer orally. The June-December 2020 report tells us that 94 percent of the loved ones of patients who died a VAD death described the service as excellent, and the remainder described it as good.

    Doctors generally prefer the intravenous delivery of any drug that has the potential to be poorly tolerated if orally ingested. It is salutary, then, that our End-of-Life Choice Act offers the option of intravenous delivery.

    Espiner's interviewees anticipate “ethical and legal” conundrums in the extremely rare case of failed administration. They suggest that consent should be reconfirmed if a second attempt needs to be made.

    Palliative care's own answer to assisted dying is terminal sedation, the practice of deeply sedating the patient while discontinuing all nutrition and fluids. It can take two or more weeks to die in this way. While consent to continue is sometimes sought after the first few days, it would be downright unethical to re-awaken the patient in the later stages of starvation and dehydration. Yet palliative care feels comfortable to continue terminal sedation without re-confirmed consent.

    In jurisdictions culturally close to New Zealand, assisted dying has been overwhelmingly described by doctors, patients and families as a swift and peaceful release.

    Spain and the state of Tasmania passed assisted dying legislation in March. South Australia, Queensland and NSW will be debating similar legislation this year. The clock will not be turned back on assisted dying in the world of Westernised medicine. Patients want it. Doctors see the need for it.

    We respect our palliative care colleagues and fully support the expansion of their services. Some of them are members of our group. We do not support evangelisation of the anti-assisted dying rhetoric by a group purporting to speak for all palliative care practitioners. Above all, we do not support our national broadcaster being used to sow seeds of doubt where there need be none.

    ■ Dr Jack Havill is spokesman for Doctors for End-of-Life Choice NZ. He is a retired intensive care medicine specialist and lives in Hamilton.



  • 21 Apr 2021 12:26 PM | Pip Patston (Administrator)

    Dr Gary Palinda

    drgarypalinda.com

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