Evidence heard in assisted dying bill scrutiny

Manx politicians taking evidence on a bill that would give terminally ill adults the right to choose to end their own life have heard concerns about doctors identifying coercion.

The Assisted Dying Bill 2023 has completed its evidence stage in the Legislative Council with members set to scrutinise the clauses on 17 December.

The upper chamber heard evidence from the MHK behind the bill, Alex Allinson, retired palliative care consultant Claud Regnard, and forensic investigator Bridget Carter.

During the session, Dr Regnard argued that it was "inherently risky" to leave the confirmation of a patient's decision to two "isolated doctors".

Allinson's private member's bill, which is being guided through the Council by Peter Greenhill MLC, would give adults with a prognosis of 12 months or less to live the right to choose to die.

Under the provisions in the proposed legislation, which was passed by the House of Keys in July, Those eligible would have to be over the age of 18 and have lived on the Isle of Man for five years, with the decision being verified by two independent doctors.

But both Dr Regnard and Ms Carter proposed a "multi-disciplinary team" to assess whether there was coercion as an added safeguard.

Dr Regnard argued that doctors were trained to work with and believe families and, while training would be beneficial, those with professional experience of those situations would be well-placed to assist.

Ms Carter said creating a team would mean there were "checks in place" to create a "more robust and safeguarded system".

She told members that she did not think doctors were able to assess an individual's capacity based on a "tick-box" process, and they were not trained to be able to understand the patient's family dynamics and possible patterns of abuse.

Often older people did not "recognise" they were being coerced, and if they did they could either feel "embarrassed" or not want to damage the reputation of their family member, she said.

However, Allinson voiced concerns on the additional time that "extra step" would take and argued "an additional barrier" should not be created for those who wanted an assisted death.

He also told MLCs that it was "eminently possible" that assisted dying would "initially" be provided at people's homes.

This would ensure there were "the right degree of safeguards", he said, adding that "most people" wanted to die at home.

At the conclusion of the evidence session, having initially stated his intent to ask for support to move directly on to the clauses stage of the bill at the sitting, Greenhill instead proposed the Council did that on 3 December - a week earlier than standing orders dictates.

Rejecting that call, Paul Craine MLC said there had been an "enormous amount of information" and he needed time to consider it, while Diane Kelsey MLC said she wanted time to think about possible amendments.

Greenhill said while he respected the comments made, he would still put the motion forward for a vote, which was unsuccessful.

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