Alzheimer’s Association: ‘Assisted suicide is not the answer’

The leading voluntary organisation for Alzheimer’s care in the US has broken ties with a pro-assisted suicide group, after concluding its “values are inconsistent” with its own.

The Alzheimer’s Association formed a partnership with ‘Compassion & Choices’ in November aiming to “improve end-of-life care” and “share the steps everyone can take in the event of an early-stage dementia diagnosis”.

But the Association has now admitted: “We deeply regret our mistake, have begun the termination of the relationship, and apologise to all of the families we support who were hurt or disappointed.” It added: “Research supports a palliative care approach as the highest quality of end-of-life care for individuals with advanced dementia.”

‘I feel useless’

In Canada, a 37-year-old man who has experienced homelessness over a period of twelve years has applied for euthanasia because he feels a burden to society.

The Alzheimer’s Association: “We deeply regret our mistake”

Tyler Dunlop, who suffers from schizoaffective disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, said he refused a psychiatric assessment and offers of food and shelter to prove he was serious about seeking assistance to end his life.

He explained: “If I can help people, well, that’s good enough reason to stay, but I feel useless. That’s why I want to do this: I’m hurting people. I’m hurting myself. I’m hurting society.”

Canada legalised euthanasia in 2016, but has already scrapped the requirement for a person to be terminally ill and has only paused plans to expand it to those with mental health issues for another year following a backlash.

Britain

Earlier this week, a Conservative MP warned that assisted suicide is not healthcare but an “execution” of those deemed not worthy to live.

In the Channel 4 documentary ‘Prue and Danny’s Death Road Trip’, Danny Kruger MP and his mother Dame Prue Leith visit Canada and US states which have removed legal protections for the vulnerable and debate whether Britain should listen to their warnings.

Kruger, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Dying Well, highlighted that it is impossible to introduce assisted suicide safely. He said when you permit doctors “to decide that some people are better off dead, you will inevitably end up expanding the criteria” to access it.