RR Phantom
Location : Wasted Space Job/hobbies : Cayman Islands Actuary
| Subject: Netherlands: Scientists behind guide to quick and painless suicide Mon Mar 24, 2008 7:32 pm | |
| A SCIENTIFIC guide to do-it-yourself suicide is to go on sale in the Netherlands.
The book, believed to be the first of its kind to be published, is by a group of respected scientists and psychiatrists. It contains detailed information on using drugs as well as committing suicide by starvation, including the quickest and least painful way to do it. There are also chapters on the ethical and judicial questions for those who aid suicides. Its authors are planning English, French and German editions.
One of the authors, Boudewijn Chabot, a psychiatrist, said: "Doctors learn little about this subject in training. This book is for people who want to make their own decisions about ending their lives."
Dr Chabot said most suicides were carried out with the help of family and friends, with common methods being the refusal of food and drink or the surreptitious collection of prescribed drugs until a lethal quantity was acquired.
Last week medical and legal experts criticised the Swiss assisted-suicide organisation Dignitas for "inhumane" practices over its new method for helping people to kill themselves using a plastic bag full of helium.
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