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Ruling on terminally ill patients goes to court (UK -- Schiavo impact)
Reuters ^ | May 16, 2005 | Reuters

Posted on 05/16/2005 12:37:28 PM PDT by QQQQQ

LONDON (Reuters) - The General Medical Council (GMC) went to court on Monday to clarify how much treatment should be given to terminally ill patients.

Last year 45-year-old Leslie Burke, who has a degenerative brain condition, won a court ruling to stop doctors letting him starve to death should he become too ill to feed himself or communicate.

Lawyers for the GMC told the Appeal Court on Monday that there was no reason to suppose that Burke would not be allowed to die naturally.

"There is nothing to suggest that Mr Burke will not be provided with the artificial nutrition and hydration he wishes to be provided with when he requires it, which hopefully will be many years hence," GMC counsel Philip Havers told the court.

Last year's ruling criticised the GMC's guidelines on dealing with terminally ill patients, which in certain circumstances give doctors the final decision on treatment.

The ruling said doctors should obtain court permission before withdrawing life-support and said many sections of the guidelines were unlawful.

The GMC, a public body established in 1858 to protect patients' interests, said it was appealing the ruling because the judgement left some key issues unclear.

"Doctors want clear guidance to help ensure individual patients receive the care that's right for them. That's why we are appealing the judgement," the GMC said in a statement.

Burke said on Monday he was not asking for his life to be extended by radical treatment.

"I just do not want to effectively die of starvation and thirst which may take up to two weeks. I want as far as possible to be able to approach the end of my life with dignity," he told Sky News.

The hearing is scheduled to last for three days, with the Appeal Court expected to reserve judgment until a later date.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: braindamaged; britain; burke; dehydration; disabled; schiavo; starvation

1 posted on 05/16/2005 12:37:32 PM PDT by QQQQQ
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To: QQQQQ

So the right to die morphs into the duty to die whether you want to or not.


2 posted on 05/16/2005 12:40:35 PM PDT by Dreagon
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To: Dreagon

And a very short morphing it was, too.


3 posted on 05/16/2005 12:52:10 PM PDT by Iwo Jima
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To: Dreagon
So the right to die morphs into the duty to die whether you want to or not.

***********

We owe it to the State not to bankrupt her assets, don't you know.

4 posted on 05/16/2005 12:52:43 PM PDT by trisham ("Live Free or Die," General John Stark, July 31, 1809)
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To: QQQQQ

However, a ruling in London does not apply to the USA.


5 posted on 05/16/2005 12:54:33 PM PDT by bookworm100
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To: Dreagon
>"I just do not want to effectively die of starvation and thirst which may take up to two weeks. I want as far as possible to be able to approach the end of my life with dignity," he told Sky News.
>>So the right to die morphs into the duty to die whether you want to or not.

Did you read the piece?
It's about a guy himself
choosing the methods

he wants put in place
in his own case. He doesn't
want a dragged-out end.

6 posted on 05/16/2005 12:59:39 PM PDT by theFIRMbss
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To: theFIRMbss
"Did you read the piece? It's about a guy himself choosing the methods"

Last year 45-year-old Leslie Burke, who has a degenerative brain condition, won a court ruling to stop doctors letting him starve to death should he become too ill to feed himself or communicate.

****************

My understanding is that he does not want to die like Terri Schiavo.

7 posted on 05/16/2005 1:10:06 PM PDT by trisham ("Live Free or Die," General John Stark, July 31, 1809)
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To: bookworm100

apparently you have missed the latest trends in court rulings... that of international law and precedent. haven't you seen the courts lately basing decisions on what happens in other countries???


8 posted on 05/16/2005 1:13:16 PM PDT by WomanBiologist
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To: bookworm100

apparently you have missed the latest trends in court rulings... that of international law and precedent. haven't you seen the courts lately basing decisions on what happens in other countries???

we need to watch what happens in the courts of other countries, it could come back and bite us in the butt!


9 posted on 05/16/2005 1:13:58 PM PDT by WomanBiologist
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To: trisham
>"I just do not want to effectively die of starvation and thirst which may take up to two weeks. I want as far as possible to be able to approach the end of my life with dignity," he told Sky News.
>>My understanding is that he does not want to die like Terri Schiavo.

I read this to mean
he wants his euthanasia
to be effective

and quick, rather than
drawn out, but probably I'm
mis-reading the gist . . .

10 posted on 05/16/2005 1:17:43 PM PDT by theFIRMbss
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To: theFIRMbss

What I am reading into his interview is that he does not want any medical treatment, but he does not want to starve and dehydrate to death.


11 posted on 05/16/2005 1:54:20 PM PDT by LauraJean (sometimes I win sometimes I donate to the equine benevolent society)
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To: theFIRMbss
I read this to mean he wants his euthanasia to be effective and quick, rather than

************

Yes, I can understand that. The article was poorly written, in my opinion.

12 posted on 05/16/2005 2:33:55 PM PDT by trisham ("Live Free or Die," General John Stark, July 31, 1809)
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To: trisham; theFIRMbss; Dreagon

I agree with trisham.

It seems like the DEFAULT is to starve and dehydrate people to death, who can't defend themselves. This guy does NOT like that default, that's why he brought his suit, while he is still able to, so as to keep doctors from doing that to him later.

Nowhere in the article does it say, that he wants to be euthanized quickly by some other method, instead. He wants to die, when it's time, not when the doctors decide it's time. He wants to keep doctors from automatically killing him by withholding food and water, when he isn't able to defend himself.

Apparently you have to sue, to force doctors to keep you alive.


13 posted on 05/16/2005 3:35:18 PM PDT by QQQQQ
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To: Nightshift; floriduh voter; cyn; amdgmary; pc93; ExPatInFrance

ping


14 posted on 05/16/2005 3:49:14 PM PDT by tutstar ( <{{--->< Impeach Judge Greer http://www.petitiononline.com/ijg520/petition.html)
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To: QQQQQ
>Apparently you have to sue, to force doctors to keep you alive

You need to visit
a hospital. In our world
modern medicine

keeps more folk alive
than ever in history.
Senior citizens

get amazing work
from all sorts of specialists.
Doctors and nurses

work profoundly hard
to keep everyone alive.
It's sad and corrupt

of Terri addicts
to pervert the one issue
of terminal care

and pretend it means
all of modern medicine.
It's a mental glitch.

15 posted on 05/16/2005 4:03:04 PM PDT by theFIRMbss
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To: QQQQQ
Apparently you have to sue, to force doctors to keep you alive.

*************

Well said.

That's the slope we're sliding down, it seems.

16 posted on 05/17/2005 6:11:49 AM PDT by trisham ("Live Free or Die," General John Stark, July 31, 1809)
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To: QQQQQ

I can't believe Leslie Burke won his court battle last year and now will have to again fight for the RIGHT TO LIVE, due to the GMC's appeal. What has this world come to when a person feels the need to go to court because he is scared he might be killed by the removal of food and water.

It's clear Mr Burke is NOT for euthanasia, but wants to LIVE. Here is a link to his website:
http://www.willtolive.co.uk/les_burke/main/

I pray the court will rule in Burke's favor once again. It's insane that the GMC, an organization established to protect patient's interests, is putting Burke through this ordeal and torment. Just goes to show things are not always as though they appear.

Thanks for the article.




17 posted on 05/18/2005 9:14:28 AM PDT by Pepper777
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