"Disagree with voluntary euthanasia . . . but don't deny the right to me"
First patient in the world to use a ΓÇÿdeath machine' leaves suicide note calling for others to be allowed to choose the same fate
By Celia Hall Medical Editor
THE FIRST man in the world to end his life by legally sanctioned euthanasia left a suicide letter pleading for others to be allowed to take the same course.
Ben Dent, a 66-year-old cancer sufferer, died at his home in Darwin, Australia, with the aid of a computerised `death machine', as reported in yesterday's Daily Telegraph.
His wife Judy and Dr Philip Nitschke, who helped to devise the "Deliverance" computer program, were with him.
Dr Nitschke read out the letter Mr Dent had left at a press conference in Darwin yesterday
"The Church and state must remain separate," he wrote. "If you disagree with voluntary euthanasia, then don't use it, but please don't deny me the right to me to use it if and when I want to.
"For months I have been on a roller coaster of pain made worse by the unwanted side-effects of painkillers."
Dr Nitschke said Mr Dent died with dignity after many attempts to seek a cure and relief from prostate cancer. He had suffered for five years.
"It was a very poignant moment of course," the doctor said. "There was that sense of history as well.
"He communicated to me that he wished to go ahead and I was able to carry out that wish of the patient. Things went ahead very smoothly and appropriately."
Dr Nitschke said he had five other terminally-ill patients wanting to die within the next few weeks. Other requests were received hours after the announcement of Mr Dent's death, he said.
Mr Dent died on Sunday afternoon when he pressed a yes/no key on the machine, which pumped lethal drugs into his arm.
His death was legal under the new Northern Territory Rights of the Terminally Ill Act, although there were fresh demands yesterday for its repeal.
Under the Act, two doctors must confirm that a patient is terminally ill and suffering unbearable pain before life can be ended. A psychiatrist must also confirm that the patient is not suffering a treatable clinical depression.
More deaths are inevitable if patients can find the three doctors to sign the necessary papers for a death to go ahead. Five psychiatrists refused to see Mr Dent. Finally, Dr John Ellard, a Sydney psychiatrist, flew to Darwin and signed the papers. Dr Ellard said Mr Dent had been "intelligent and sensitive" and aware of all the issues surrounding his decision.
The psychiatrist's participation overcame obstacles which prevented Max Bell, a retired taxi driver who was also Dr Nitschke's patient, from becoming the first to die under the law, which came into force on July 1.
Mr Bell, 65, died in hospital from stomach cancer last month after failing to find a specialist willing to help him.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church in Australia, Cardinal Edward Clancy, said yesterday that Mr Dent's suicide signified "a shameful day for Australia". He described the Act, as an "ugly evil" which recklessly disregarded the convictions of people around the globe.
The Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, the Most Rev Harry Goodhew, said the morality of the nation was under threat. "Doctors are no longer those who save lives," he said. "Under the Northern Territory law they are also those who kill."
He called for support for a private member's Bill to overturn the law. Kevin Andrews, a backbench MP from Victoria, has introduced a private member's Bill into the Federal Parliament to achieve this. A further legal challenge will be heard in the High Court in November.
John Howard, the prime minister, has expressed support for the Bill and MPs will be allowed a "conscience vote". The New Territory Act is the first in the world to sanction euthanasia. Doctor-assisted suicide has been practised in Holland for a number of years but it has never been legalised.
