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Wednesday, February 05, 2003On a Monday morning in mid-January, Reginald Crew, a retired auto worker, flew in from Liverpool to kill himself. The 74-year-old Englishman, who suffered from motor neurone disease, met a doctor at 10 a.m. In accordance with Switzerland's liberal euthanasia law, the doctor agreed that Mr. Crew was terminally ill and prescribed a deadly barbiturate, pentobarbital sodium. By 3 p.m., Mr. Crew, a wheelchair-bound paraplegic in constant pain, sipped, through a straw, some water containing the barbiturate. Four minutes later, he was dead. His wife and his daughter were at his side. Just five short hours to decide the quality of life of a man previously unknown to the doctor. A man from a different culture, who speaks a different language. The Swiss are right to be concerned with the rise of this cottage industry: Congresswoman Dorle Vallender wants to change the law to prohibit death tourism, and has proposed a bill that would regulate euthanasia groups and make the rules more cumbersome so that those wishing to die have more time to think about what they are doing. "I'm not against assisted suicide," Ms. Vallender said. "But with Dignitas, it all happens too fast. They come here in the morning and are dead in the afternoon." "We have a duty to make sure they really can't be helped and are making this decision without pressure," she said. As it turns out, Mr. Crew and his family were paid by the British media: The Crew family's travel expenses were paid for by the "Tonight With Trevor McDonald" show, broadcast on Britain's private Independent Television network, which bought exclusive rights to the story for an undisclosed sum. Makes you wonder why he really did it, doesn’t it? Was he like those people who try to disguise their suicides so their families will get the life insurance money? Or was he subjected to pressure from his familiy to end their misery and help them out financially at the same time? Noble sacrifice or subtle coercion? You can bet the Swiss doctor didn't take time to investigate the complexities. Not in five hours. posted by Sydney on 2/05/2003 09:03:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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