The APPG has launched an investigation into whether assisted suicide protocols used around the world can lead to distressing or prolonged deaths.
The investigation follows recent articles in the Daily Mail and Spectator that have raised concerns about practice in countries that have legalised ‘assisted dying’.
Issues that the APPG will explore include:
- The use of various cocktails of drugs, that have not undergone clinical trials, in formal assisted suicide protocols.
- Requirements for patients to swallow large volumes of drugs.
- The recent doubling, from 2015 to 2020, of the median time to death for those accessing assisted suicide in Oregon.
- Suggestions that intravenously administered lethal doses of barbiturates – as used in some assisted suicide facilities – may cause pulmonary oedema.
- Presence of complications including convulsions, vomiting, coughing, and a burning sensation in the throat.
The investigation is due to report shortly before Christmas and will take evidence from practitioners, academics, and those with personal experiences with assisted suicide. It will also consider the latest available statistical data from states with reporting procedures, including Oregon. A full report will be released to the media and unveiled in Parliament by the end of the year.
Members of the public, practitioners, academics, and those with personal experiences of assisted suicide deaths are able to contact the APPG at info@dyingwell.co.uk