Frank Cottrell-Boyce is the UK Children’s Laureate and multi award-winning children’s book author and screenwriter. He reflects on life, death and assisted suicide with palliative medicine Professor Mark Taubert. They share moving stories of challenge and hope and explore the language and culture of the assisted suicide debate. The post Frank Cottrell Boyce appeared first on Our Duty of Care.

Chelsea Roff is founder of Eat, Breathe Thrive, an international eating disorder charity. She co-authored the first systematic review of deaths by euthanasia and assisted suicide in people with eating disorders, describing 60 cases internationally. Suicide is a leading cause of death in eating disorders, leading to complex ethical and clinical challenges when NHS resources are limited. ‘One of the heart-breaking things about this illness is the more severe it becomes the more a person resists treatment – resists the very thing that is going to bring them out of it’. Assisted suicide legislation may only be intended for a small group patients but eating disorders demonstrate why ‘the repercussions are across the bows of medicine’. The post Chelsea Roff appeared first on Our Duty of Care.

Hon. Robert Clark, Former MP and Attorney-General from Victoria, explains concerning realities about voluntary assisted dying (VAD) in Australia. ‘Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil’. While the UK parliament is told that VAD has been an unqualified success in Australia, in reality there is lack of reporting and scrutiny of VAD processes, with negative impacts on patients, health services and health professionals.   The post Hon. Robert Clark appeared first on Our Duty of Care.

Irene is a Professor of Intellectual Disability & Palliative Care in London. Her research into euthanasia cases in the Netherlands reveals why the UK needs to be very concerned about people with autism and mild learning disabilities qualifying for assisted deaths. The post Irene Tuffrey-Wijne appeared first on Our Duty of Care.

On suicide prevention day Prof Mark Komrad, clinical professor of psychiatry from Maryland, on the challenges of doctor-assisted suicide for psychiatrists and suicide prevention.  What can the UK learn from flawed safeguards in Oregon’s model of assisted suicide, where the law has expanded and where financial considerations often outweigh ethical concerns, creating a troubling precedent in medical practice? The post Mark Komrad appeared first on Our Duty of Care.

Prof Mark Taubert, palliative medicine Consultant in Cardiff and national lead for DNACPR decisions in Wales. Legalising assisted suicide would be like ‘throwing a hand grenade into our NHS’. Mark draws insights from his clinical, academic and strategic roles, and the impact of decisions made during the Covid epidemic. The post Mark Taubert appeared first on Our Duty of Care.

David Randall, a consultant nephrologist working in London, speaks with Gillian Wright, about what really concerns him if assisted suicide is legalised in the UK The post David Randall appeared first on Our Duty of Care.