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Transparency & Data at the End of Life
This month the journal/ webiste, Medscape, has published an important article on the lack of data on the efficacy of lethal drugs at the end of life.
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Science journalist Manuela Callari is one of the first public intellectuals to draw attention to the absolute dearth of data that is produced following the off-script use of the euthanasia drug Nembutal (pentobarbital).
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Callari also delves into the controversy claim that Nembutal causes subjective drowning through pulmonary oedema. She interviews practitioners in a range of countries while producing a comparative analysis of the different ways that countries with assisted dying collate and publish their data on failure and complication rates.
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She concludes that the Netherlands is the most systematic and open in its practices. She notes that clinics in Switzerland declined to comment: this is despite the fact that if Nembutal fails in the Netherlands, the medical professional can step in with extra measures since voluntary euthanasia is lawful.
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In Switzerland euthanasia is illegal. So what happens then? No one knows ...
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Read the Medscape article (in English) on the website
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Read Philip Nitschke’s new BLOG on the same issue
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New Synthetic Opioids Update
The March update to the Peaceful Pill eHandbook focuses on Synthetic Opioids, AI and the need for a possible rethink.
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Register Now
Melbourne & Amsterdam Workshops
Exit’s first face-to-face workshops for 2026 will be held in May in Melbourne Australia on 20 May and in Amsterdam Netherlands on 31 May. These workshops will be the first opportunity to detail to members the first trials of the new Kairos collar.
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Melbourne - Toorak Library
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Workshops are free for Exit Members & CLW Members
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Photo ID may be requested
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A lunch break is scheduled (there is an onsite cafe)
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Alberta Canada Winds Back the Clock
Just when you think that there must be something wrong with their British, given their seeming failure to be able to pass end of life laws (the proposed Scottish law was voted down this week - 69:57 votes), here comes Alberta determined to wind back the Canadian clock.
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This week, legislators in Alberta, introduced 'Bill 18, the Safeguards for Last Resort Termination of Life Act’.
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This new law seeks to enshrine the requirement that a person in this province who seeks help to die can only qualify if they are considered likely to die within 12 months.
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The purpose of this change is to rule out any further relaxation of criteria and especially to exclude assisted dying for the mentally ill (who retain decision-making capacity).
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But this is not all. The proposed Bill also:
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- Prevents referring patients out of state for assessments
- Prevents health institutions from displaying any information on assisted dying
- Mandates an exclusion zone of 150m from health care facilities aimed at preventing end of life consultations on their premises
- Introduces ridiculously onerous paperwork oversight requirements and more ...
This Bill has the footprint of the Church (and other nay-sayers) all over it.
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If passed, this Bill represents a serious failure of the pro-choice movement in Canada to maintain the hard-won-status quo of choice.
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Its presentation must also send chills through a country which is thought by many to be liberal, self-respecting and forward-looking.
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Read the CBC report on the Exit International Website
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