Assisted Suicide: What can seem like dignity can turn out to be anything but

This letter was published by the Minneapolis Star Tribune on October 7, 2019.

John Kelly

I sympathize with Bobbi Jacobsen (“I have ALS, and I hope for a dignified death,” Opinion Exchange, Sept. 24). Like her, I became severely disabled as an adult. But I oppose assisted suicide: It’s too dangerous.

Assisted suicide can look appealing from an individual’s perspective, but at the state level, it inevitably leads to the premature deaths of non-dying people. At least 12% to 15% of people judged terminal outlive their six-month prognosis, according to the Journal of Palliative Medicine, sometimes by years and decades. Actress Valerie Harper, who died last month, lived six years longer than predicted. Tragically, there are people who would be alive today but for their misplaced trust in a doctor’s prediction.

Jacobsen cites the absence of disability abuse reports from state protection and advocacy agencies, but abuse gets easily buried. For example, Oregonian Wendy Melcher’s death in 2007 at the hands of two nurses was suppressed by the state nursing board.

Elder abuse is rampant. Safeguards end after drugs get dispensed and, because no witness is required, heirs and abusers can engineer deaths without worry.

As the cheapest “treatment” for serious illness, assisted suicide fattens insurers’ profits and crowds out traditional, more expensive treatment.

Palliative care doctors know how to let people die gently, so it’s inexcusable that anyone die in uncontrolled pain. Everyone has the right to reject any treatment, including food and water, and palliative sedation is available as a last resort.

The Minnesota Legislature should demand excellent palliative care, not put everyone in danger of premature death due to mistakes, abuse and insurers’ bottom lines.

John B. Kelly, Boston

The writer works for Not Dead Yet, an organization opposed to assisted suicide.

Minnesota assisted suicide bill requires health care providers to refer for assisted suicide.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Minnesota Assisted suicide bill SF 2487 that was introduced by Senator's Carolyn Laine and Steve Cwodzinski requires 'health care providers' who oppose assisted suicide to refer for assisted suicide.

SF 2487 is an Oregon style assisted suicide bill that, among other concerns, expands the definition of who can prescribe lethal assisted suicide drugs and it requires health care providers that oppose killing to refer.

SF 2487 Section 1, Subdivision 3 (c) states:

Failure to inform a terminally ill adult who requests additional information about available end-of-life treatments including medical aid-in-dying, or failing to refer the terminally ill adult to another health care provider who can provide the information, shall be considered a failure to obtain informed consent for subsequent medical treatment.

SF 2487 permits non-physicians to prescribe lethal drugs for assisted suicide. Section 1, Subdivision 2 (f) states: 

"Health care provider" or "provider" means a person who is licensed, certified, registered or otherwise authorized or permitted by law to administer health care or prescribe and dispense medication under the provider's scope of practice including:

(1) a doctor of medicine or a doctor of osteopathic medicine licensed under chapter 147 or prior to May 1, 1963, sections 148.11 to 148.16;

(2) an advanced practice registered nurse licensed under chapter 148 and certified by a national nurse certification organization acceptable to the Board of Nursing to practice as a clinical nurse specialist or nurse practitioner; and

(3) a pharmacist licensed under chapter 151.

Similar to other 2019 assisted suicide bills SF 2487 is part of the assisted suicide lobby's plan to expand the scope of assisted suicide legislation. New Mexico's assisted suicide bill was the most extreme bill I had ever seen, Deleware's bill redefines assisted suicide as palliative care while Oregon's assisted suicide bills expand the definition of terminal and eliminate the waiting period.

Minnesota man sentenced to 90 days for assisting the suicide of his wife.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

A Minnesota man who was convicted of assisting the suicide of his wife has been sentenced to 90 days in a county workhouse.

*Minnesota man charged with assisting the suicide of his wife (Link). 

Thomas Houck & Linda Conrad.

The Associated Press reported:

Thomas Houck earlier pleaded guilty to helping his 59-year-old wife, Linda Conrad, end her life last summer. Officials say she suffered from chronic migraines, severe stomach pain and depression.

Statutes call for up to 15 years in prison upon conviction for assisted suicide. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman says the judge gave Houck a lighter sentence last week "probably because both the mother and ex-husband of the victim sent letters of support" on his behalf.

Houck admitted to helping his wife obtain and purchase the suicide equipment. During police interrogation Houck admitted that he directly participated in the act. Further to that, Houck admitted to disposing of the suicide equipment, etc.

Minnesota man charged with assisting his wife's suicide.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.

Thomas Houck & Linda Conrad

A Minnesota man has been charged with assisted suicide after admitting to aiding his wife's suicide, but he also admitted to participating in the act.

According to reports (no link provided due to the description of the death) Thomas Houck, who was charged with aiding the suicide of his wife in Minnesota, originally told the police, when he called 911 on August 16, that he woke up to find his wife, Linda Conrad, dead from suicide. 

Houck later admitted to helping his wife find and purchase the equipment used for the suicide. During police interrogation Houck admitted that he directly participated in the act. Further to that, Houck admitted to disposing of the equipment, etc.

Minnesota law defines Aiding Suicide as: Whoever intentionally advises, encourages, or assists another in taking the other's own life.

Houck not only advised and assisted the suicide, but he also carried out the act.

Forced to lie about assisted suicide

This article was published by National Review online on May 30, 2018

Wesley Smith

By Wesley Smith

The assisted-suicide movement often lies, prevaricates, spins, word engineers, and obfuscates in its advocacy memes.

Lying in debates is one thing. But legally forcing doctors and public officials to participate in these tactics in their official capacities is quite another. Yet, that is what many assisted-suicide laws and legislative proposals do.

Take for example, lying on death certificates. Several state laws legalizing assisted suicide force MDs who assist suicides to falsify death certificates — an important public document needed for the accrual of accurate vital statistics — that the cause of death was the underlying disease and not a self-administered drug overdose.

Now, a Minnesota legalization proposal goes there. From SF 1572:

Subd. 17. Death certificate. Unless otherwise prohibited by law, the attending physician may sign the qualified patient’s death certificate. The qualified patient’s underlying terminal illness shall be listed as the cause of death.

Think about this: MDs compelled by law to lie in order to prevent transparency, inhibit oversight, and thwart accurate independent scientific studies of the deadly practice.

It gets worse. The bill would specifically legalize assisted suicide — doctors prescribing drugs for the purpose of a patient taking them to cause an overdose death — but claims mendaciously it isn’t legalizing assisted suicide:

Subd. 16. Medical aid in dying.
(a) Nothing in this section authorizes a physician or any other person to end a patient’s life by lethal injection, mercy killing, assisting a suicide, or any other active euthanasia.
(b) Any action taken according to this section does not constitute causing or assisting another person to commit suicide.

But that is exactly what it does!

And to make sure the mendacity sticks, the term “assisted suicide” is banned from use in public communications, documents, and pronouncement:

c) No report of a public agency may refer to the practice of obtaining and self-administering life-ending medication to end a qualified patient’s life as suicide or assisted suicide, and shall refer to the practice as medical aid in dying.

This is utterly nonsensical. As a recent AMA Ethics report on the issue noted (my emphasis): 

“The term ‘physician assisted suicide’ describes the practice with the greatest precision.”

Forcing MDs and public employees to lie and use euphemistic language isn’t just a matter of semantics. It destroys integrity in governance and undermines trust in public institutions. And, it disrespects democratic deliberation.

Assisted-suicide legalization turns thousands of years of medical ethics on its head. It has the potential to shatter family life. By definition, it results in the premature deaths of thousands of people — some of whom might not have died from their diagnosed illness, which sometimes happens. And, it gives the imprimatur of the state to some suicides, which has the potential to increase suicide ideation as it makes suicide prevention more equivocal.

If it is so important to do all that, then call a thing what it is! If you can’t, then stop pushing the agenda.

US Supreme Court upholds conviction of assisted suicide group in Minnesota death.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

On Monday, October 2, 2017 the United States Supreme Court declined to review the conviction of the Final Exit Network. By declining to review the conviction, the US Supreme Court therefore upheld the conviction and determined that the Minnesota assisted suicide is constitutionally valid.

On May 14, 2015, the Final Exit Network was found guilty of assisting a suicide, by a jury, in the death of Doreen Dunn on May 30, 2007 and were sentenced on August 24, 2015.

On December 19, 2016, the Minnesota appeals court upheld Final Exit Network conviction.

During the 2015 trial, the Lacrosse Tribune reported:

Dakota County prosecutor Elizabeth Swank told jurors that the evidence showed that two members of Final Exit Network went to Dunn's home in Apple Valley to assist her suicide. They then removed the equipment that she used for suicide so that it appeared she had died of natural causes.  

Swank said that despite Dunn's pain and depression, she had no life-threatening illness and her family was puzzled by her death. There were good things happening in her life: Her daughter who had been in Africa for about a year was coming home the next day and her son's fiancee was scheduled to give birth that week. However, her husband was also planning to move out, the prosecutor said.

The Final Exit Network has now been prosecuted in several assisted suicide cases. In Georgia, the Final Exit Network assisted the suicide of John Celmer, who was depressed after recovering from cancer. Susan Celmer, John's widow, testified against the Final Exit Network. 

The Final Exit Network assists the suicide of people at the most vulnerable time of their life. Larry Egbert, the former medical director for the Final Exit Network, lost his medical license in Maryland for participating in these acts. 

An Open Letter to Mitchell Hamline School of Law: "Losing Your Freedom Is Like Losing Your Hair"

This article was written by Margaret Dore and published on the Choice is an Illusion website on June 1, 2017.

Margaret Dore on the far left.

By Margaret Dore

In April, I was honored to be one of four speakers at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law. The event was a panel discussion regarding legislation seeking to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia in Minnesota.

I arrived at the event with a legal analysis and other materials addressing problems with the legislation. For example and contrary to backers’ claims, patient voluntariness is not assured.

I started to hand out my materials. Proponents of the legislation, however, objected and a law student organizer backed them up to prevent distribution.

The event went forward and I was able to get my points out, albeit without written backup. I had been the sole opposition speaker.

Fred Harrington

In another life, I was a young lawyer who attended a presentation sponsored by the Washington State Supreme Court. The speaker, a businessman named Fred Harrington, had been held hostage in Iraq by Saddam Hussein. Harrington, whose head featured a bald pate, described what it was like to lose his freedom:

Losing your freedom is like losing your hair. One day you look in the mirror and it’s gone.

Today, we live in a free country. But if we don’t stand up for the right to speak and have open public discourse, our right to do so, like Mr. Harrington’s hair will suddenly be gone. I hope that Mitchell Hamline will clarify its policies to embrace free speech and open public discourse. Before it’s too late.

Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

Below please links to the documents that I was not allowed to distribute:

1. Legal Analysis of Minneota Bills,HF 1885 & SF 1572 (Link).
2. Jeanette Hall “It’s Great to Be Alive” flyer (front and back, shown here as a single page) (Link).
3. One page event handout (Link).

Assisted Suicide group was turned down by the Minnesota Supreme Court for review of 2015 conviction.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

On Tuesday, March 14, 2017 the Minnesota Supreme Court declined to review the conviction of the Final Exit Network.

On May 14, 2015, the Final Exit Network was found guilty, by a jury, of assisted suicide and the group was sentenced on August 24, 2015.

On December 19, 2016, the Minnesota appeals court upheld the conviction of the Final Exit Network in the assisted suicide death of Doreen Dunn who died on May 30, 2007.

In a Final Exit Network Press Release, the assisted suicide group stated that the Supreme Court of Minnesota declined to review their conviction so they will be asking the Supreme Court of the United States to review their conviction.

During the 2015 trial, the Lacrosse Tribune reported:

Dakota County prosecutor Elizabeth Swank told jurors that the evidence showed that two members of Final Exit Network went to Dunn's home in Apple Valley to assist her suicide. They then removed the equipment that she used for suicide so that it appeared she had died of natural causes. 

Dunn's husband of 29 years arrived home on May 30, 2007, to find her dead on the couch. Swank said Dunn had a blanket pulled up to her neck with her hands folded on her chest. 

Swank said that despite Dunn's pain and depression, she had no life-threatening illness and her family was puzzled by her death. There were good things happening in her life: Her daughter who had been in Africa for about a year was coming home the next day and her son's fiancee was scheduled to give birth that week. However, her husband was also planning to move out, the prosecutor said.

John Celmer

The Final Exit Network has been prosecuted in several assisted suicide cases. In Georgia, John Celmer, who was depressed after recovering from cancer, the Final Exit Network assisted his suicide. Celmer's widow Susan Celmer, testified against the Final Exit Network. The Final Exit Network assists the suicide of people at the most vulnerable time of their life. Larry Egbert, the former medical director for the Final Exit Network, lost his medical license in Maryland. 

Great News: Minnesota appeals court upheld conviction for assisted suicide.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The Minnesota appeals court upheld the conviction of the Final Exit Network in the assisted suicide death of Doreen Dunn who died May 30, 2007.

On May 14, 2015, the Final Exit Network was found guilty, by a jury, of assisted suicide and the group was sentenced on August 24, 2015.

During the trial, the Lacrosse Tribune reported:

Dakota County prosecutor Elizabeth Swank told jurors that the evidence showed that two members of Final Exit Network went to Dunn's home in Apple Valley to assist her suicide. They then removed the equipment that she used for suicide so that it appeared she had died of natural causes. 

Dunn's husband of 29 years arrived home on May 30, 2007, to find her dead on the couch. Swank said Dunn had a blanket pulled up to her neck with her hands folded on her chest. 

Swank said that despite Dunn's pain and depression, she had no life-threatening illness and her family was puzzled by her death. There were good things happening in her life: Her daughter who had been in Africa for about a year was coming home the next day and her son's fiancee was scheduled to give birth that week. However, her husband was also planning to move out, the prosecutor said.

The Star Tribune reported at the sentencing:

During the trial, prosecutors argued that the group gave Doreen Dunn, of Apple Valley, a “blueprint” for ending her life and made efforts to conceal her suicide from family and authorities by removing the equipment she used. 

Criminal cases against Final Exit Network coordinator Roberta Massey, of Bear, Del., and the group’s medical director, Lawrence Egbert, 87, of Baltimore, are still pending. 

Another defendant, Jerry Dincin, died and charges against Thomas Goodwin were dismissed in 2013. 

Robert Rivas, the lawyer for the assisted suicide group, did not dispute that Jerry Dincin and Larry Egbert were present at Dunn's death, but argued that they didn't assist her suicide.

The Final Exit Network has been prosecuted in several assisted suicide cases. In Georgia, John Celmer, who was depressed after recovering from cancer, died by suicide with the assistance of the Final Exit Network. Celmer's widow Susan Celmer, testified against the Final Exit Network. The Final Exit Network assists the suicide of people at the most vulnerable time of their life. Last year Larry Egbert, the medical director for the Final Exit Network, lost his medical license in Maryland.

Assisted suicide ballot measure introduced in Colorado. We must protect people from assisted suicide.

By Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Recently I wrote an article about the successes in defeating assisted suicide bills in America. Since publisheding the article the Minnesota assisted suicide bill was stopped when its sponsor "pulled the bill" due to insufficient support.

Considering the success in defeating bills that give doctors the right to prescribe suicide to their patients, the suicide lobby has been relentless in pushing their death ideology.

For instance, this year in Colorado, a Senate Committee defeated the assisted suicide bill on February 3, on February 4, then the House Judiciary Committee passed the assisted suicide bill (6 - 5) and on February 24, the sponsors "pulled the bill" because it lacked support.

Now the suicide lobby has introduced a Colorado ballot measure titled: "End of Life Options" for the November 2016 election. The suicide lobby will require almost 99,000 signatures to have this dangerous measure put on the ballot.

At the same time, the sponsor of the California assisted suicide bill, which does not become law until June 9, have introduced two bills to promote assisted suicide in California. The first bill would establish a toll free death line, while the second bill would require the state health plan to pay for assisted suicide.

Assisted suicide bills in New York and the District of Columbia remain as clear threats. While I whole heartedly thank the many concerned people who stopped the suicide lobby in their states, I recognize that we will need to be as relentless as the suicide lobby. 

Even though the suicide lobby were defeated in Colorado, they are now bi-passing the legislative process with a ballot measure. 

We need to be vocal about the dangers of assisted suicide and how giving doctors the right to prescribe suicide to their patients devalues the lives of people at a vulnerable time of their life.

We must protect people from assisted suicide, the future of our culture depends on it.

Assisted suicide: An idea that loses its appeal when it is understood.

By Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Charles Camosy

The State of Minnesota is currently debating assisted suicide bill SF 1880. Today, there is a hearing in the Minnesota Senate’s Health, Human Services and Housing Committee on the bill. Yesterday, an article by Charles Camosy, Assisted suicide: An idea that loses appeal as it becomes tangible - Liberals may find themselves opposed, as they should be. Camosy is a professor of bioethics at Fordham University.

Camosy first explains why assisted suicide is opposed: 

The truth about assisted suicide is that it 1) takes time to understand and that it 2) turns political stereotypes on their head. 

Let’s go back to June 2012, five months before the elections that year. Massachusetts has assisted suicide on the ballot. Polls indicate “overwhelming support” in that liberal state: 68 percent support legalizing it, while 19 percent favor its remaining illegal. 

But then something remarkable happened. The people of Massachusetts began to understand the issue. 

Support of assisted suicide is thought to be a liberal idea, but supporters often sound quite conservative. “I want my personal freedom! Government stay out of my life! My individual rights trump your view of the common good!” 

The summer of 2012 saw Massachusetts liberals calling this out. Victoria Kennedy, wife of the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, published a piece titled “Question 2 Insults Kennedy’s Memory.” Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. also wrote a piece arguing against the measure, “Liberals Should be Wary of Assisted Suicide.” Disability-rights and physicians groups also were fundamentally opposed. 

The result? In a mere five months, the liberal case defeated assisted suicide.

Camosy then explains why assisted suicide causes concerns:

Virtually everyone is sympathetic in cases of extreme and unbearable pain, but palliative care and terminal sedation now can keep patients from feeling it. Indeed, physical pain doesn’t even make the top five reasons people choose assisted suicide. 

Assisted suicide is more about not wanting to be a burden on others and having control over how one dies. But especially in a culture that prizes autonomy and freedom, it just isn’t clear — once we open the door — how we can put limits on this choice. Why, as in the case of Oregon, limit it to those who will die within six months? Why not six years? Why must one be terminally ill at all? If it’s simply “their choice,” why any limitation? 

Think this is scaremongering? Consider the Netherlands, a country with a similar love for individual autonomy, which has had euthanasia for two generations. It first was permitted only in a case of “hopeless and unbearable suffering.” But two years ago an otherwise healthy woman, who asked to die because she was going blind, was euthanized. Thousands of Dutch have called for euthanasia for people over 70 who are “tired of life.” Along with those who argue for assisted suicide in Minnesota, the dominant value in the Netherlands is personal freedom and choice. Who are we to judge?

Camosy then explains why Liberals should oppose assisted suicide:

Against the individualist approach, liberals focus on how policies impact vulnerable people who are pushed to the margins. In a youth-worshiping and capitalist culture, older people are understood as a drain or burden on their families and society. Hardly surprising, then, that older people would feel “tired of life” and seek a way out. But it is diabolical to make it easier for vulnerable people on the margins to kill themselves. Good liberals must absolutely affirm the goodness of their existence — especially when the surrounding culture can make them feel unwanted and burdensome.

Camosy then uncovers some problems with assisted suicide in Oregon

Assisted Suicide conviction upheld of former Minnesota nurse.

Mark Dryborough

By Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

William Melchert-Dinkel, the former Minnesota nurse had his conviction for assisting the suicide of Mark Dryborough (32) of Coventry England, upheld by the Minnesota Court of Appeal.

Melchert-Dinkel, who encouraged and counselled people to commit suicide on internet chat sites, was sentenced in September 2014 to 178 days in jail in the deaths of Dryborough and Nadia Kajouji (18) of Brampton Ontario Canada. The Minnesota Court of Appeal upheld his conviction for assisting the suicide of Dryborough but overturned his conviction in the death of Kajouji. The Associated Press reported:

The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled that there was sufficient evidence to convict William Melchert-Dinkel, 53, of Faribault, of assisting the 2005 suicide of Mark Drybrough, 32, of Coventry, England. 

It said there wasn't enough evidence to convict the ex-nurse of the lesser offense of attempting to assist the 2008 suicide of Nadia Kajouji, 18, of Brampton, Ontario. 

Authorities have said that Melchert-Dinkel was obsessed with suicide and hanging, and that he sought out potential victims online, posing as a female nurse and feigning compassion.  

The appeals court said Melchert-Dinkel gave Drybrough detailed instructions on how to hang himself. But it said he didn't give specific instructions to Kajouji when he recommended that she hang herself. She jumped from a bridge into a frozen river in Ottawa, where she was going to college. 

Melchert-Dinkel served nearly six months in jail after his 2014 conviction and remains on 10 years of probation. While he told police he did it "for the thrill of the chase," he apologized at his sentencing and said he had repented.

The Associated Press reported that Terry Watkins, Melchert-Dinkel's lawyer, plans to appeal the conviction to the Minnesota State Supreme Court.

Links to previous articles concerning this case:

• British family reacts to the appeal of the assisted suicide conviction.
• Former Minnesota nurse convicted of assisting suicide.
• Is Philip Nitschke different than Melchert-Dinkel?
• Internet suicide predator loses nursing license.
• US police investigate possible assisted suicide.

Final Exit Network found guilty for assisting the suicide of Minnesota woman.

Alex Schadenberg

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

A Minnesota Judge applied the maximum sentence to the Final Exit Network (FEN) for their role in assisting the suicide of Doreen Dunn (57) in 2007, after a jury found the Final Exit Network guilty last May.

The Star Tribune reported that:

During the trial, prosecutors argued that the group gave Doreen Dunn, of Apple Valley, a “blueprint” for ending her life and made efforts to conceal her suicide from family and authorities by removing the equipment she used. 

Criminal cases against Final Exit Network coordinator Roberta Massey, of Bear, Del., and the group’s medical director, Lawrence Egbert, 87, of Baltimore, are still pending. 

Another defendant, Jerry Dincin, died and charges against Thomas Goodwin were dismissed in 2013. 

According to a LaCrosse Tribune article:

Dakota County prosecutor Elizabeth Swank told jurors that the evidence showed that two members of Final Exit Network went to Dunn's home in Apple Valley to assist her suicide. They then removed the equipment that she used for suicide so that it appeared she had died of natural causes. 

Dunn's husband of 29 years arrived home on May 30, 2007, to find her dead on the couch. Swank said Dunn had a blanket pulled up to her neck with her hands folded on her chest. 

Swank said that despite Dunn's pain and depression, she had no life-threatening illness and her family was puzzled by her death. There were good things happening in her life: Her daughter who had been in Africa for about a year was coming home the next day and her son's fiancee was scheduled to give birth that week. However, her husband was also planning to move out, the prosecutor said.

John Celmer

Judge Christian Wilton senteced FEN to the maximum sentence by ordering that they pay a $30,000 fine plus $3000 towards the funeral cost.

FEN has been prosecuted for assisting several suicides. In Georgia, John Celmer, who was depressed after recovering from cancer, died after FEN assisted his suicide. Celmer's widow Susan Celmer, testified against FEN. 

Last year Larry Egbert, the medical director FEN, lost his medical license in Maryland.

• Final Exit Network found guilty in Minnesota assisted suicide case.
• America's Dr Death loses medical license.
• Minnesota Supreme Court upholds ban on assisted suicide.

Final Exit Network found guilty in Minnesota assisted suicide case.

By Alex Schadenberg

Alex Schadenberg

International Chair - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Members of the Final Exit Network (FEN) were found guilty of assisting the suicide death and interfering with the death scene in the death Doreen Dunn (57) in 2007. Dunn was living with chronic depression but she was not not terminally ill.

The jury returned with a guilty verdict after a 90 minute deliberation.

Sentencing is scheduled for August 24. FEN has stated that it will appeal the convictions.

According to an article in the LaCrosse Tribune:

Dakota County prosecutor Elizabeth Swank told jurors that the evidence showed that two members of Final Exit Network went to Dunn's home in Apple Valley to assist her suicide. They then removed the equipment that she used for suicide so that it appeared she had died of natural causes. 

Dunn's husband of 29 years arrived home on May 30, 2007, to find her dead on the couch. Swank said Dunn had a blanket pulled up to her neck with her hands folded on her chest.

Swank said that despite Dunn's pain and depression, she had no life-threatening illness and her family was puzzled by her death. There were good things happening in her life: Her daughter who had been in Africa for about a year was coming home the next day and her son's fiancee was scheduled to give birth that week. However, her husband was also planning to move out, the prosecutor said.

Robert Rivas, the lawyer for the assisted suicide group, did not dispute that Jerry Dincin and Larry Egbert were present at Dunn's death, but he disputes that they assisted her suicide.

The Final Exit Network has been prosecuted in several assisted suicide cases. In Georgia, John Celmer, who was depressed after recovering from cancer, died by suicide with the assistance of the Final Exit Network. Celmer's widow Susan Celmer, testified against the Final Exit Network. The Final Exit Network assists the suicide of people at the most vulnerable time of their life. Last year Larry Egbert, the medical director for the Final Exit Network, lost his medical license in Maryland.

In October 2014, William Melchert-Dinkel, of Minnesota, was convicted in the assisted suicide deaths of Canadian teenager, Nadia Kajouji, and and Mark Drybrough, from England.

• Assisted suicide group on trial for assisting depressed Minnesota woman's suicide.
• Former Minnesota nurse is going to jail in the assisted suicide death of Canadian teen.
• Who are the Final Exit Network.
• America's Dr Death loses his medical license.
• The Final Exit Network and its leaders are indicted in Minnesota.

Assisted suicide group on trial for assisting depressed Minnesota woman's suicide.

By Alex Schadenberg

International Chair - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Two members of the Final Exit Network were prosecuted and faced a trial for allegedly assisting the suicide death of Doreen Dunn. Dunn lived with chronic pain and depression.

According to the LaCrosse Tribune:

Dakota County prosecutor Elizabeth Swank told jurors in her opening statement that evidence will show two members of Final Exit Network went to Dunn's home in Apple Valley, helped her commit suicide, then removed equipment she used to inhale helium to asphyxiate herself so that it appeared she had died of natural causes. 

Dunn's husband of 29 years arrived home on May 30, 2007, to find her dead on the couch. Swank said Dunn had a blanket pulled up to her neck with her hands folded on her chest. 

Swank said despite Dunn's pain and depression, she had no life-threatening illness and her family was puzzled by her death. There were good things happening in her life: Her daughter who had been in Africa for about a year was coming home the next day and her son's fiancee was scheduled to give birth that week. However, her husband was also planning to move out, the prosecutor said.

Robert Rivas, the lawyer for the assisted suicide group, did not dispute that Jerry Dincin and Larry Egbert were present at Dunn's death, but he disputes that they assisted her suicide. The LaCrosse Tribune stated that:

To convict the group, the state must prove Dunn took her life with its help, either through Final Exit Network's speech or actions. Authorities didn't determine Dunn killed herself until a Georgia investigation linked the group to her death years later.

The Final Exit Network has been prosecuted in several controversial assisted suicide cases. In Georgia, John Celmer, who was very depressed after recovering from cancer, died by assisted suicide with the assistance of the Final Exit Network. Celmer's widow Susan Celmer, testified against the Final Exit Network. The Final Exit Network assists the suicide of people at the most vulnerable time of their life. Last year Larry Egbert, the medical director for the Final Exit Network, lost his medical license in Maryland.

• Who are the Final Exit Network.
• America's Dr Death loses his medical license.
• The Final Exit Network and its leaders are indicted in Minnesota.

America's Dr Death loses medical license.

By Alex Schadenberg
International Chair - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Lawrence Egbert

Lawrence Egbert, a leader of the Final Exit Network, has lost his medical license in Maryland.

After a two year review, the Maryland Board of Physicians revoked his medical license after deciding that Egbert's actions were unethical and illegal. Egbert has said that he plans to appeal.

An article in the Baltimore Sun stated:

A Baltimore anesthesiologist who made national news as "The New Doctor Death" held six elderly Marylanders' hands as they asphyxiated themselves with helium and covered up the suicides after they died, according to a state order filed this month stripping him of his medical license. 

Notice that Egbert held their hands to ensure that they couldn't remove the asphyxiation bag. He should have been charged with homicide, not assisted suicide. The article continued:

The suicides are among nearly 300 Lawrence D. Egbert said he helped arrange across the country as an "exit guide" for right-to-die group Final Exit Network. He and several colleagues were arrested in 2009 amid an undercover investigation in Georgia, but he avoided any punishment there or in another case in Arizona. He awaits trial for assisting in a suicide in Minnesota.

Stephen Drake

Stephen Drake, an expert on the Final Exit Network and the research analyst for the disability rights group Not Dead Yet told the Baltimore Sun:

"Revocation of his medical license is a good thing and long overdue,"

Egbert was first charged by the Maryland board with unprofessional conduct in 2012. The Maryland Board were tipped off by a Baltimore Sun article in which he said he had assisted in a handful of suicides in Maryland as medical director of the Final Exit Network. Newsweek dubbed him "The New Doctor Death" in 2011 after he was criminally charged for assisting in suicides in Georgia and Arizona.

According to the Baltimore Sun, Egbert's, the Maryland Board of Physicians based their decision on the following reasons:

Former Minnesota nurse who admitted to counselling suicide of Canadian teen is going to jail.

By Alex Schadenberg

Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Nadia Kajouji

The Canadian Press reported that William Melchert-Dinkel, a former Minnesota nurse, has been sentenced to 178 days in jail for his part in the death of Canadian teen, Nadia Kajouji and Mark Drybrough, from Coventry England.

CP Press report stated:

William Melchert-Dinkel was ordered Wednesday to serve 178 days in jail. 

He was sentenced to nearly five years in prison, but he won't have to serve the prison term if he complies with conditions of probation that include the jail time. 

The 52-year-old was convicted in September of one count of assisting a suicide and one count of attempting to assist a suicide in the deaths of Mark Drybrough, 32, of Coventry, England and Nadia Kajouji, 18, of Brampton, ON. 

The convictions came after the Minnesota Supreme Court narrowed the state's assisted-suicide law and reversed earlier convictions.

British family reacts to the appeal of the assisted suicide conviction by a Minnesota suicide predator.

By Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Mark Drybrough

The Birmingham Mail UK reported about the concern of the victim's family related to the appeal by a former Minnesota nurse, in his conviction, in the assisted suicide death of Mark Drybrough. The article states:

A brave Midland family who have TWICE seen an American nurse convicted of assisting the suicide of their son fear the sick predator could still escape justice.

Twisted William Melchert Dinkel – exposed by the Sunday Mercury as a predator using online chatrooms to encourage vulnerable victims to kill themselves – has been convicted of intentionally assisting the suicide of Mark Drybrough. 

Amazingly, it is the second time that the evil nurse has been convicted of the offence.

Melchert-Dinkel was obsessed with suicide.

Evidence showed he was obsessed with suicide. He sought out depressed people online and then posed as a female nurse, feigning compassion and offering step-by-step advice on how they could kill themselves. 

Melchert Dinkel later admitted to police that he had entered into fake suicide pacts with 10 people – five of whom he believed had killed themselves, including Mark.

Former Minnesota nurse convicted of attempting to assist the suicide of Canadian teen.

Alex Schadenberg

Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Nadia Kajouji

William Melchert-Dinkel, a former nurse from Minnesota, was convicted of assisted suicide in the death of Mark Drybrough from England and convicted of attempting to assist the suicide of Canadian teenager Nadia Kajouji. Melchert-Dinkel preyed upon suicidal members of a chat-room and urged Drybrough and Kajouji to allow him to watch them die by suicide.

An Associated Press article reported that:

In his ruling, Judge Neuville said Melchert-Dinkel provided both Drybrough and Kajouji with detailed information about how to hang themselves, and that Drybrough followed his instructions. However, he noted that while the defendant gave Kajouji detailed and specific instructions about hanging, she did not follow them and chose another method. So the judge said Melchert-Dinkel was guilty only of attempting to assist her suicide.

Drybrough

Melchert-Dinkel was found guilty in 2011 of encouraging the suicide deaths of Drybrough and Kajouji. He appealed his convictions and in October 2012, the Minnesota Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal.

March 19, 2014 the Minnesota Supreme Court overturned the convictions by deciding that encouraging a suicide is protected as free-speech. At the same time the Supreme Court upheld Minnesota's state law prohibiting assisting a suicide of a person.

The Associated Press article, today, stated that:

Evidence in the case showed Melchert-Dinkel was obsessed with suicide and sought out depressed people online. He posed as a suicidal female nurse, feigning compassion and offering step-by-step instructions on how they could kill themselves. He acknowledged participating in online chats about suicide with up to 20 people and entering into fake suicide pacts with about 10, five of whom he believed killed themselves.

Melchert-Dinkel's lawyer, Terry Watkins, told the media that they planned to appeal the decision.

Rice County prosecutor, Paul Beaumaster, said that the judge meticulously followed a Minnesota Supreme Court decision from last March that narrowed the state's assisted suicide law.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition holds that it is a crime to counsel or assist a suicide. Most people contemplating suicide need support. Suicide voyeurs, like Melchert-Dinkel, take advantage of people at a vulnerable time in their life.

People need to be protected from assisted suicide in all of its forms.

Links to more information on this story:

• Minnesota Supreme court upholds ban on assisted suicide.
• Minnesota Supreme court to hear assisted suicide case.
• Suicide predator, Melchert-Dinkel is appealing his conviction.
• Melchert-Dinkel sentenced in his double conviction for assisted suicide.
• Suicide predator found guilty on two counts of assisted suicide.
• Philip Nitschke and Melchert-Dinkel.