Australian man nearly killed by partner’s assisted suicide drugs

A man in Queensland, Australia, nearly died after accidentally ingesting lethal drugs meant for his female partner’s assisted suicide.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• The man took the assisted suicide drugs in Gold Coast University Hospital’s voluntary assisted dying (VAD) unit.

• He was administered Naloxone to save his life.

• Assisted suicide procedures have allegedly been “tightened” since the dangerous incident.

THE DETAILS:

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the mistake could have been due to a health care worker at the hospital who took shots of alcohol with the couple before the assisted suicide was due to take place. The woman died as expected — but somehow, her partner also ingested the drugs and nearly died.

Worryingly, it’s not even the first time this has happened in Queensland.

In 2023, a man took assisted suicide drugs meant for his wife, who had passed away in the hospital before getting the chance to kill herself. As no one was tracking the drugs, her husband was able to take them.

Queensland coroner David O’Connor warned of these tragedies when assisted suicide was legalized in Queensland, saying it was “not a well-considered law.” After investigating the accidental death in 2023, he said the law is “inadequate to provide for medication safety and to prevent deliberate misuse,” pointing out that it took just 107 days for issues to arise.

“Further calamity and heartbreak await for parents and families if nothing changes,” he said, specifically criticizing how easy it is for someone to be labeled a “contact person” who is responsible for reporting the death of the assisted suicide patient and disposing of the drugs.

“There are simply no checks or inquiries of the contact person’s suitability for the position,” he said. “At the inquest it was conceded that a person is required to undertake greater identity checks to enter a nightclub in Brisbane than to become a contact person.”

TikTok Video Glorifies Suicide - Lila Rose REACTS

THE BIG PICTURE:

Australia is not the only place that such horrors have occurred.

A case study presented at the North American Clinical Congress on Toxicology’s annual conference revealed that a 37-year-old man drank from a euthanasia concoction meant for a friend who wanted to die, who had described it as “bitter.” The man who took a sip of the lethal drink became ill enough that he had to be transported to the emergency room by paramedics.

The Journal of Emergency Medical Services highlighted a similar case, in which an elderly man drank his assisted suicide medication, and said that it burned. A middle-aged relative responded, “Let me see,” and took a drink; both ended up unconscious and barely breathing.

Medical aid, however, was only given to the younger man, as the older man had intended to die.

GO DEEPER:

Data has previously found that assisted suicide drugs often go missing.

In Washington, of 400 prescriptions given out in 2021, just 291 deaths resulted. But as the drugs are not tracked, it’s not known what happened after being dispensed, including in cases where they were not used. That means the drugs could be accidentally taken, intentionally given to someone else, or taken by a suicidal person without anyone ever knowing.

Read more at the links below:

‘Dangerous practice’ of telehealth assisted suicide to continue through 2024

A man accidentally consumed drugs meant to kill his friend – and this isn’t the first time