EUTHANASIA WORKSHEET 1

(Page 1)
CASE STUDIES

CASE STUDY 1

In 1992 Annie Lindsell (42) was diagnosed with motor neurone disease and was
worried her last days would be racked by pain. Her greatest fear was the prospect of
suffocating or choking to death when breathing and swallowing became difficult.
With only weeks to live, she asked the High Court to rule that if this happened, her
doctor could intervene and administer diamorphine, without fear of prosecution,
even if it might shorten her life.

Note: motor neurone disease is a condition which destroys the nerves that enable
people to control their movements while leaving their intellect and senses generally
unaffected.


CASE STUDY 2

Mrs Mary Ormerod had suffered a series of strokes, and the only way she could be
kept alive was to force feed her through a syringe. Mary Ormerod's doctor and
daughters left her to starve to death in a nursing home. They had taken a conscious
decision to withhold a nutritional supplement called Fresubin from the 85-year-old
after she ceased to communicate with the outside world. She weighed less than four
stone when she died in August 1995.


CASE STUDY 3

Dianne Pretty suffered from motor neurone disease that left her paralysed from the
neck down. Mrs Pretty was in need of 24-hour care and faced an unpleasant death.
Unable to end her own life, she wanted her husband to help her die without being
prosecuted.


CASE STUDY 4

Miss B was paralysed from the neck down following a ruptured blood vessel in her
neck. Unable to breath unaided Miss B was placed on a ventilator. Miss B wanted
the ventilator to be switched off so she could die. Doctors at the hospital refused to
turn the ventilator off.


SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS

Why did this person want to die?
Were other alternatives available?
How might their family and friends feel?
What would you have done?
2006 Scripture Union http://www.scriptureunion.org.uk/ re-source




EUTHANASIA WORKSHEET 1
(Page 2)
OUTCOMES


OUTCOME of CASE STUDY 1

Annie Lindsell withdrew the case in October 1997 after she established that doctors
could legally administer life-shortening drugs for the relief of mental as well as
physical distress. She was assured that her doctor would not allow her to suffer
unnecessarily and a treatment plan was agreed which followed best medical practice.

Annie Lindsell died of motor neurone disease in December 1997.



OUTCOME of CASE STUDY 2

The GP who took the decision was suspended by the General Medical Council, the
regulatory body for doctors, after nurses at the home complained about his actions.
They had opposed his decision to withdraw treatment, and had secretly given food to
Mrs Ormerod.

A legal procedure followed which ended in a charge of attempted murder.

The GP remains the only doctor ever to be convicted in the UK of attempting to
perform a mercy killing. Despite the verdict, the Crown Court imposed a suspended
sentence, while the General Medical Council let him off with a reprimand. He is still
practising medicine.



OUTCOME of CASE STUDY 3

Dianne Prettys court case to try to get permission for her husband to help her die
failed, and she died without any assistance in May 2002.



OUTCOME of CASE STUDY 4

Miss B was allowed to have her ventilator switched off as it was considered to be
medical treatment that she was allowed to turn down because she was considered to
be of sound mind. Refusing to have treatment is considered a different issue to
actively causing death.
2006 Scripture Union http://www.scriptureunion.org.uk/ re-source