About 591 Queenslanders have commenced the voluntary assisted dying (VAD) process, and 245 terminally ill people have died from a VAD substance since it became legal in Queensland in January, according to the first annual report released on Sept. 26.
Queensland’s VAD eligibility criteria outlined that people must have an illness or medical condition expected to cause death within 12 months, which is broader than other states’ six-month eligibility criteria.
Victoria is an exception, where the criteria say people need to have an illness or medical condition expected to cause death within six months unless they have a neurodegenerative disease.
In Queensland, nearly 80 percent (78) of people who accessed VAD had cancer; other diagnoses were end-stage renal and liver disease and neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, according to the report.
Almost half (49 percent) of Queenslanders who accessed VAD services lived outside the state’s metropolitan areas.
Minister Backs Practice
State Health and Mental Health Minister Shannon Fentiman said the report showed VAD was a “safe, accessible and compassionate” option for dying Queenslanders.Ms. Fentiman said VAD was delivered in a way that respected the patient’s autonomy and dignity after every completed VAD request was carefully assessed.
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Further, she said the Review Board assured Queenslanders the service was “closely and independently monitored.”
The state had 318 authorised euthanasia practitioners composed of doctors and nurses who completed the required training, as of June 30.
The Queensland government said the practitioners delivered transparent end-of-life care, were “committed and compassionate,” and worked tirelessly to enable timely and considered VAD access.
About 49 percent of authorised practitioners were in South East Queensland, while others were based in larger regional cities such as Toowoomba, Townsville, Mackay, and Cairns.
Townsville Hospital Palliative Care Specialist Dr. Claus Bader said, “VAD is not about death; it’s about an additional life choice.”
He said fulfilling a patient wish was “one of the highlights” of his career.
Professor Says Taxpayer Funds Should Support Practice
As a result of the first six months of VAD operation, Associate Prof. Helen Irving made five recommendations, including “adequate, ongoing funding and resources” to support those accessing VAD and private and public health practitioners. She said the funding would allow continuous review of VAD working practice.Further, she recommended amendments to the Commonwealth Criminal Code to permit doctors to use telehealth for VAD consultations, and for the Medicare Benefits Schedule be reviewed to reflect the practitioner’s task, adequate resourcing for research and engagement, and improved VAD awareness.
The current Criminal Code prohibits the electronic transmission of prescriptions for a substance under the scheme.
“As a result, practitioners or people accessing voluntary assisted dying are required to travel, at times long distances, to be able to access the service without risk of breaching the commonwealth criminal code,” the report said.
‘State-Sanctioned Killing’: Critics Warn
Meanwhile, pro-life group Cherish Life Queensland Executive Director Teeshan Johnson warned there was strong opposition to VAD, claiming it was “state-sanctioned killing.”When euthanasia was being introduced into the state, Ms. Johnson said, “Cherish Life Queensland advocates for the right to life from conception until natural death, and therefore, we will fight this so-called voluntary assisted dying bill.”
“There is a lot of opposition to the legalisation of assisted suicide in Queensland, and our small army of supporters will do our best to protect life at the end of life.”
While David Daintree, director of the Christopher Dawson Centre for Cultural Studies in Tasmania, has warned such laws often result in a “slippery slope” situation.
“Legalisation to allow euthanasia in the Netherlands, Canada, and now Australia has resulted in an annual increase in the number of those applying for it and dying by it,” he wrote in The Epoch Times.
“The stretching of the rules to allow more and more ‘participation:’ just this year Victoria extended availability to people who were mentally ill. Each year the scope of the law is broadened, and the safeguards around medical advice watered down,” he added.
“You don’t have to have much imagination to see that people whose minds are impaired by mental suffering might be particularly susceptible to being persuaded to take a radical course of action when that action is nowadays popularly depicted as humane, generous, and compassionate.”
