Posted on 11/21/2005 3:49:01 PM PST by NYer
ZURICH, November 21, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A doctor acting for the Swiss euthanasia group, Dignitas, has committed suicide after learning that a German woman he euthanized was not terminally ill. Dignitas is under investigation after news of the woman's death.
The 69-year-old woman contacted Dignitas with a medical report stating she had terminal liver cirrhosis; an autopsy conducted later in Germany revealed the woman was in good health other than depression, and that the medical report was falsified. The woman, whose name was withheld, allegedly convinced her German GP to falsify the report so that she could get sick leave from work.
Her doctor in Augsburg said he was unaware that the woman was going to use his false report to persuade Dignitas to euthanize her. Augsburg's senior public prosecutor, Hans-Juergen Kolb, said an investigation against the GP and the dead Swiss doctor had been initiated.
"We are co-operating with the Swiss authorities," said Kolb, according to the UK's Times on Line. "Post mortem reports have already shown that she was not suffering from irreversible liver damage, and if we find that her mental health was in doubt the charges could be more serious."
Dignitas' founder, Ludwig Minelli, defended the clinic: "The doctor's report that I was given indicated the woman was suffering from cirrhosis of the liver as well as hepatitis. And in any case every person in Europe has the right to choose to die, even if they are not terminally ill."
Responsible for the killing of 453 people since its launch by Minelli in Zurich in 1998, the assisted-suicide group expanded into Germany with an office in Hanover last month, in the hopes of advancing the euthanasia cause in that country.
Regional justice minister for Lower Saxony, Elisabeth Heister-Neumann, charged Minelli with being financially motivated. "Making poisonous cocktails available has deviated into pure business, and medical reports are being misused as an excuse," she emphasized.
Minelli told the UK's Telegraph last year that Dignitas would gladly assist anyone to die, "irrespective of medical condition. It does not matter what people are suffering from, we do not refuse anyone."
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Swiss Lure Suicide Victims: Euthanasia Administered Within 24 Hours
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/may/04052509.html
Swiss Euthanasia-Providing Group Branches Out to Germany
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/oct/05100506.html
Probably right. I wonder if the "good doctor" has any other patients with "serious illnesses?"
She was German. It's almost impossible to fire anybody in Germany for any reason. A report of terminal illness would just give her an excuse for multiple vacations for 'treatment'.
In most of Europe, it is common practice for doctors to sell diagnoses, since all the medical care is 'free' anyway.
She was also 69. I thought the Europeans had retirement systems for all? Wouldn't she just retire?
"In Europe, chronic depression can be a capital crime"
Being European ought to be one also.
If that kind of attitude prevails, I think I can predict that we'll be seeing live gladiatorial contests, to the death, within a couple of decades. And the legitimization of human slavery.
Those who say, don't know.
Those who know, don't say.
Sad. But two fewer secular humanists on the planet is not really a problem. Except for them, of course.
Stay tuned. France may be able to supply something more exciting even sooner than that.
It can be a lucrative business. Getting the doctor to write you a prescription for pain killers doesn't usually cost much, but a diagnosis of 'work-related stress' would go for more since, by German law, your employer is then obligated to send you to a resort and pay for daily massages for up to six weeks to help you 'recover'. Black markets crop up in ALL socialist systems.
But of course, one who believes in "legalized" murder (but still illegal according to God's law) would go the suicide route at the drop of a hat. One goes hand in hand with the other!
Ping.
Doctors (and I use that term loosely) who want to help humanity should not choose "fields" that kill people.
AH, the perils of playing God.
Ah, the unexpected results of euthanasia. Who'd of thought that someone would lie about a terminal disease just to have someone help them off themselves?
"irrespective of medical condition. It does not matter what people are suffering from, we do not refuse anyone."
"And in any case every person in Europe has the right to choose to die, even if they are not terminally ill."
Euro Family Values
Something fishy about the reportage here. The author is simply saying "post hoc" but the article is written as if it is "propter hoc." I mean, did he leave a note saying this was why he was committing suicide? No such note is mentioned in the article.
Maybe this Dr. Minelli had either remorse or fear of prosecution. But maybe he was just a depressed, death-obsessed person.
I can't imagine how Germany exists with foolishness such as this. How absolutely unproductive. Let's face it people have a tendency to be slackers when there is no incentive to be productive. This type of systems begs to be abused. No wonder Germany has a sluggish economy. I would hate living in a prison mediocrity such as the one the Germans have created for themselves.
"And in any case every person in Europe has the right to choose to die, even if they are not terminally ill."
I guess that says it all. Maybe they should just let the Muslims chop their gosh=-darn heads off.
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