Warning against Connecticut Assisted Suicide legislation

A senior doctor and academic has outlined his opposition to assisted suicide proposals in the US State of Connecticut. Jack Pike, a physician assistant of 46 years, argues that there is a better way to help patients facing pain.

“My years as a physician assistant, primarily in surgical specialties and critical care, has contributed to my understanding of pain, especially how to treat it.

“Just as there are numerous conditions which cause pain, there are many ways in which you can ease a patient’s pain—and none of them involve the patient killing themselves, especially with the complicity of a medical professional sworn to preserve life.

“It is wrong and false to claim that the only way to end a patient’s pain is to end their life entirely.”

Research from Oregon, where assisted suicide has been legalised, shows that the majority of patients request assisted suicide for existential or disability-related concerns, not for pain relief, the majority of which can be treated through appropriate holistic care.

Mr Pike argues that such data changes the discussion around legislation by showing that a person’s worth and the value of an individual life is at the heart of the debate

The American Medical Association has reaffirmed its opposition to assisted suicide stating that the very notion of such legislation undermines the physician/patient relationship.

CARE’s CEO, Ross Hendry has said:

“The prescription of lethal drugs is not a moral response to suffering and permitting it would undermine the safety, dignity, and equality of many groups.

“CARE stands with the many charities, medical associations, disability groups and others that oppose assisted suicide and euthanasia.

“Evidence shows that these practices place invisible pressure on sick and vulnerable people, that ‘safeguards’ are ineffective, and that laws are inevitably widened over time. We must not open the door to them in the UK.”