Euthanasia debate: Doctor confirms he helped patients die, wants to be charged

Updated

A doctor who confirmed he provided a fatal dose of euthanasia drug Nembutal to a patient says he hopes Victorian police charge him so the issue is forced into the courts.

In 2005, Steve Guest was dying of oesophageal cancer and he wanted to die.

He was little more than a living skeleton, not able to swallow, nourished by a tube running into his stomach.

It has long been known Dr Rodney Syme helped Guest to die, through advice and consultation, but last week on ABC Radio he went further.

"I said quite specifically that I gave Steve Guest Nembutal," Dr Syme said.

Part of me says 'yes [I want to be charged]' because it could give a definitive decision. Part of me says 'no I don't want the stress'. Dr Rodney Syme

"I'd given every intimation for the previous nine years that I had given him assistance and medication, but I never said what it was."

Nembutal is administered to euthanase animals and has often been given to patients seeking assistance to commit suicide.

Since Dr Syme's revelation, Victoria Police have reopened the investigation into the death of Guest and are determining whether they will charge the doctor.

"Part of me says, 'Yes ,[I want to be charged]' because it could give a definitive decision," Dr Syme said.

"Part of me says, 'No, I don't want the stress'."

Dr Syme has campaigned for the right to doctor-assisted suicide for decades.

And near the end of his life, Guest also became a right-to-die campaigner.

Just weeks before he died in 2005 he called in to ABC Radio in Melbourne.

"Nobody owns this life except me. And they won't let me end it," he said at the time.

"My days are awful. I can't describe how awful they are."

Dr Syme freely admits Guest is not the only person to whom he has given Nembutal.

"I have said over the last 20 years that I have helped people to die," he said.

If he is charged, Dr Syme could face up to five years in prison for inciting or aiding suicide, but he is not concerned.

"If I were charged, I'd be asking a jury to decide whether I'm a criminal or a good doctor. I'm pretty confident what a jury would think about," he said.

However, anti-euthanasia campaigners say the courts are not the right forum to resolve this issue.

Paul Russell from Hope Preventing Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide says the issue should be raised in Parliament.

"The courts and the police are effectively there to uphold the law, and the law against assisting in suicide is there to protect vulnerable people," he said.

Steve Guest's brother, Andrew, says it was Steve's dying wish to have the issue of euthanasia publicly debated.

"If he was alive now he'd be delighted that it has become an issue in the public eye again," Andrew Guest said.

Do you know more? Contact investigations@abc.net.au

Topics: euthanasia, death, health, doctors-and-medical-professionals, medical-ethics, vic

First posted