Australian Coroner's report after man dies from his wife's assisted suicide drugs.

Man died ingesting his wife's lethal assisted suicide drugs.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Julius Dennis reported for ABC News Australia that:

A coroner has found Queensland's voluntary assisted dying laws are not "well-considered" after an elderly man took his own life using drugs prescribed for his partner.

Coroner David O'Connell has recommended a health professional be present every time a deadly substance is administered.

Dennis reported that Coroner O'Connell criticized the assisted suicide law after a man died taking the assisted suicide poison that was prescribed for his wife. The news article states that the man's wife was approved for assisted suicide and had received the lethal poison but on May 8 she went to the hospital where she passed away before taking the lethal substance. Her husband was required to return the medication within 14 days but he died on May 16 after ingesting it.

Dennis reported the findings by Coroner O'Connell:

Mr O'Connell said the inquest established a person underwent fewer identity checks to become a contact person than he did entering a Brisbane nightclub.

"The fact that ABC had been medically diagnosed with depression and took medication was not something the VAD authorities considered, or even enquired on, when approving them to be a Contact Person. Indeed, there are simply no checks or enquiries of the Contact Person's suitability," he said.

O'Connell found further problems with the law. Dennis reported:

Mr O'Connell said the inquest heard evidence of "a number of 'near misses' … where various people have required the intervention of a health practitioner administer a supplementary IV VAD dosage to ensure a patient's death".

This included one patient who had alcohol before taking the drug and threw up some of the substance.

O'Connell concluded that there should always be a health professional present when a person takes lethal assisted suicide drugs.

Dennis concluded the article by stating:

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman said the government would consider the coroner's recommendations.

The better response is to prohibit assisted suicide. The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition has always warned that these laws lack effective oversight. Once a person has received the lethal poison, anyone could die taking it. Also, what happens to the lethal poison when a person dies without ingesting the lethal poison?

I wonder how often this same scenario has happened in the US? Not one of the American assisted suicide laws require oversight of the law.