Dr. Regina McQuillan:

I presume the Deputy is talking about assisted suicide rather than people committing suicide who have illnesses. People may die of suicide. That is a tragedy. I do not think there should be any assistance in suicide or any euthanasia in any circumstances. Once one starts making exceptions, it is normalised and then things get expanded. That is when the challenges arise. I do not believe there should be assisted suicide or euthanasia in any circumstances.

In circumstances where people are suffering a great deal, as a palliative care doctor, I work very hard to reduce their suffering. Sometimes, when dealing with people in the last hours or days of life, reducing suffering may be by sedation to reduce their awareness of it.

We are leading to potential harm in a wider area. When I am looking after a particular person, I have to look after the person but I also have to think about the impact of my actions in the wider area and wider society. I have a responsibility for my patients but I also have the wider responsibility. Some people are concerned about the idea of palliative care because they believe it is only about death and dying. I am very much trying to move people away from that idea and understanding it is about helping people to live well with a serious illness. If there is a situation where people feel palliative care is about bringing about a person's death, with their agreement or not, that is harmful to palliative care and to society.

I do not believe that there are any circumstances in which there should be assisted suicide or euthanasia. We need to treat people and their symptoms and to look for a balance there because occasionally one is aware when treating symptoms that there is a risk of harm. One has to balance that risk against potential benefit. Members may be aware of the medication known as Brufen or Neurofen. This is a pain-killer but can cause kidney disease. If I am looking after a patient who has both kidney disease and the kind of pain that responds very well to Brufen, I would weigh up the risks of harm of using Brufen for that pain rather than something else. One has to ask: what are the risks versus the benefits? If a younger person develops kidney disease from Brufen then there is the risk of harm that he or she might lose 30, 40 or 50 years of life. Someone with a much shorter life left to live, however, might accept the risk of kidney disease because the medication will be beneficial to them. In weighing up the risks of benefit or harm, I would actually think that, whatever the individual might want, the risk of harm from assisted suicide or euthanasia to the wider society is too great.