NEWS AND COMMENT
Suspended sentence for failed mercy killer
The BBC and the Guardian report the particularly tragic story of 95 year old Denver Beddows who admitted battering his 88-year-old wife Olive with a pan and a hammer at…
MS Sufferer heading to Switzerland while he still can
Colin suffers from the Primary Progressive form of MS. He intends to go to Lifecircle in Basle to end his life on 15th June while he still can. He told…
Avoiding Prolonged Dementia
Dementia is now the leading cause of death in England and Wales. How can we ensure we don't suffer from it for longer than we wish?
New Legal Challenge on Assisted Dying
Today a new legal case to challenge the law on assisted dying is seeking financial backing. Please can you help! The law firm Bindmans are representing 'Omid' who was diagnosed…
House Of Lords Debate on Assisted Dying
On 6th March 2017 the House of Lords held a short debate on Assisted Dying "To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of recent legislation on assisted…
Senior judge ends his life after being diagnosed with dementia
Several news sources report the suicide of Sir Nicholas Wall, the former President of the Family Division, Britain’s most senior family law judge. The Daily Mail has some particularly interesting…
Book Review: Rational Suicide in the Elderly
Rational Suicide in the Elderly: Clinical, Ethical, and Sociocultural Aspects by Robert E. McCue (Editor), Meera Balasubramaniam (Editor)
Dementia sufferers ending their lives in Switzerland
Today the Mail on Sunday published an article about the father of an MDMD supporter who ended his life at Dignitas. Penny's father Ron Hall suffered from early stage dementia.…
PRESS RELEASE: MDMD Response to Noel Conway’s legal challenge on Assisted Dying
Today MDMD issued the following press release: My Death, My Decision is pleased that, with support from Dignity in Dying, (DiD), Noel Conway, who is most unfortunately terminally ill with…
Over 100 Minimally conscious patients
A BBC investigation attempted to find out how many minimally conscious patients were being kept alive in the UK. All the UK health authorities were asked, but only about one…
Ironically, the option of euthanasia can prolong life, and its quality.
A new BBC report has been published on Belgian paralympian Marieke Vervoort who has obtained papers authorising her euthanasia. She has suffered from a progressive, incurable spinal condition, for 16…
MS sufferer Andrew Barclay ends his life at Dignitas
The Daily Mirror reports the story of Andrew Barclay who ended his life at Dignitas in Switzerland. It includes a clear and articulate video statement made by Andrew shortly before…
Why everyone should write an Advance Decision – the case of Paul Briggs
The case of Paul Briggs, reported in the Daily Telegraph and other papers, highlights why everyone should write an Advance Decision (AD) to refuse medical treatment in case they are…
Dementia now leading cause of death
A BBC report highlights the latest statistics published by the ONS on causes of death. Dementia (including Alzheimer's disease), is now the leading cause of death, accounting for 11.6% of…
Protecting Vulnerable People
We were interested to see an article on the Christian Institute website about MDMD, claiming that we "lobby for legal protections to be removed from vulnerable people". Nothing could be…
How long do we really want to live for?
In an interesting BBC Website article, health correspondent Nick Triggle asks this important question. The article usefully differentiates between "life expectancy" and "healthy life expectancy". It points out that many…
MDMD Website launched
Today MDMD formally launches its website. Following a press release and interviews, an article in the Sunday Times 9th October describes MDMD's main objectives under the headline "Non terminally ill…
Archbishop Desmond Tutu: I want the option of an assisted death
On his 85th birthday Archbishop Desmond Tutu wrote an opinion piece in the Washington Post where he goes further than his previous position of supporting assisted dying. He now states…
Belgian Paralympian wants Euthanasia… but not yet.
The BBC report the case of Marieke Vervoort who has a degenerative muscle disease and won silver in the 2016 paralympics. She has made it clear that she wants Euthanasia in…
Euthanasia linked to Organ Donation
The Daily Mail 5/9/16 reports on a paper published in a medical journal which calls for allowing euthanasia to enable organ donation in the case 'where it has been argued…