The End of Life Choice Act which governs assisted dying will be reviewed later this year. Health Minister Shane Reti (himself opposed to assisted dying) and the coalition partners are drawing up the review’s terms of reference. While Act Party leader David Seymour, who instigated the Assisted Dying laws, would like changes made to the Read more
More palliative care investment is needed in New Zealand, says Royal College of GPs medical director Dr Bryan Betty. He’s concerned about ACT Party leader David Seymour’s desire to widen the End of Life Choice Act criteria. Seymour argues the change is necessary, as many who want assisted suicide are “missing out”. Seymour says this Read more
Looser criteria in the euthanasia law are needed, says ACT Party leader David Seymour. A year after coming into force, the End of Life Choice Act is working well and opponents of the law change had “melted away,” Seymour says. “The figures overwhelmingly show a law that is working. People can and do get through Read more
Serious concerns have emanated from the first annual report of the Assisted Dying Service. The Assisted Dying Service which came into force last November has just released its first annual report for the period from November to March. By the end of June, 400 people had applied for an assisted death, 143 had died and Read more
Our hospices are facing a funding crisis. So, it was a huge disappointment when we learned that, despite billions of dollars being allocated to health, Budget 2022 offered no extra support for the 32 hospice services that offer palliative care to nearly 20,000 patients and their whānau every year. The lack of government recognition given Read more
Canada’s palliative care programmes are suffering while assisted suicide programmes are “growing like a cancer”. Fewer than 50 percent of patients wanting palliative care can access it. These findings contradict the Government’s stated plans to its improve its palliative care provision. Evidence is mounting that assisted suicide is actively damaging the already inadequate palliative care Read more
Many millennials are forecast to die badly because our underfunded palliative care system is struggling on dwindling fundraising. Experts say we already have a “postcode lottery” determining who dies in pain. The scale of the problem contrasts with the provisions of the newly available End of Life Choice legislation. The new legislation offers a fully-funded Read more
Providing equity of access for assisted dying without equity of access to palliative care is to completely undermine the goals of the End of Life Choice Act, says Professor Ben Gray. “The choice is distorted towards aid in dying and away from palliative care.” Gray – an associate professor with Otago University’s Department of Primary Read more
The British Columbia hospice that is trying to preserve its historical opposition to euthanasia is being taken to the Court of Appeal. Because of its views, the Delta Hospice Society (a member-run organisation) is likely to lose $1.5 million in funding from the Fraser Health Authority, a public health care authority in British Columbia. It Read more
The Epidemic Response Committee met with the Cancer Society, Funeral Directors Association and representatives of the palliative care sector today. Cancer Society medical director Dr Chris Jackson began the meeting. He said the lockdown has kept people with cancer and immune-suppressive issues safe. However, there have been problems, around people getting treatments, being away from Read more