Annual SOARS Lecture (London - September 17, 2010)
While the Pope was talking to parliamentarians in London, on September 17th, Lady Mary Warnock, the distinguished educator and moral philosopher, was giving the first Annual SOARS Lecture on “Easeful Death for the Very Elderly”, at the Draycott Education Centre only five miles away.
Lady Warnock’s statement was so clear and direct that the essence of it can be easily given by quoting the following main points:
“The older we get the more realistic we usually become about approaching death, and the more we hope for a good death. Euthanasia in the strict sense is what we all want, whether we will need medical intervention to achieve it or not. This afternoon, I shall speak boldly about euthanasia, and assisted suicide, not hedging it about or sanitising it with the euphemisms of ‘assisted dying’.
“Like many people of my age, I have recently witnessed the death of a close relative, my eldest sister, who died this Summer at the age of 101. She did not have a good death; and though its badness lasted only two months, it was avoidable badness, and too long-drawn out…..She got pneumonia and was taken to hospital where she was given masses of different antibiotics…..It was plain that she was dying, but no one admitted this: they spoke as though their one aim was to help her recover, and get her back to where she had been before…..She became unable to swallow and was doubly incontinent, and increasingly distressed and agitated…..her last few days were spent, mercifully, in unconsciousness.
“This sad story makes me even more convinced than I was before that everyone must make an Advance Decision and if possible appoint someone to make decisions on their behalf…..Universal understanding of Advance Decisions, and access to proper forms on which they can be made are essential now that we are all living much longer, and it is the responsibility of GPs to bring it about. There should be explanatory notices and copies of the proforma in every surgery, and, at least in the case of everyone over eighty, or with particular health problems, doctors should steel themselves to talk about how their patients would like to die, and what would constitute a good death. And especially they should talk about how to avoid a bad death, and how the doctor is committed to helping in this avoidance.
“Doctors appear to be hard-wired not to mention death, even though they know quite well, as we all do, that all men are mortal. And it is to be hoped that they know that their duty is as much to make death bearable as it is to fend it off, for this is what we all trustingly believe that they will do, until we witness the contrary. The fact is that most doctors are not much interested in death. A dying patient is not their concern, but the concern of relatives and nurses. Once the doctor believes that he has done all he can to cure his patient, that is to prolong life, and has failed, then his interest wanes…..If doctors seem incapable of mentioning death to their patients, how much more incapable are they of bringing it about?…..Instead they could try to embrace the idea that to bring about a good death for one of their patients is simply to continue the duty of caring for that patient, of acting in the best interests of that patient.
“Dying in hospital, though it may be long postponed by advances in treatment and in technology, may also be lonely and horrible, because there are not enough nurses to care for the old in the most basic ways, by spending time with them, by helping them to eat or drink and talking to them. All such neglect contributes to a bad death, even, or perhaps especially, for those who remain mentally competent, and able to recognise with horror what is happening to them.
“Nothing I have said so far bears on what is the most intractable problem of all those we must face when considering the death of the old, and that is, of course, the problem of dementia. We all know the increasing numbers of those old people suffering from some form of dementia; and we all know that the annual rate of increase is rising fast…..There is certainly a strong argument for enabling patients with dementia to have an Advance Decision they may have made fully and properly respected…..This, once again, points to the absolute need for the public to be educated about Advance Decisions. Specifically, it shows the need for early diagnosis of dementia. For in its early stages, dementia does not render its victims mentally incompetent; they are well able to make decisions with regard to their future (witness the admirable pronouncements of Terry Prachett), and they are still able to retain the sense of who they are and who they have been, which is lost in the final, most bewildering and frightening stages.
“I simply do not want to be remembered as someone wholly dependent on others especially for the most personally private aspects of my life, nor can I tolerate the thought of outstaying my welcome, an increasing burden to my family, so that no one can be truly sorry when I die and they are free…..Our life, for us, is a narrative, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. We want it to have an end that is fitting, not an end that trails pitifully on into chaos and darkness…..Euthanasia ought to mean death that is good, in the sense that it is timely.
“We must hope that Society can get used to the idea of a good death being in the interest of the very old, when they have, one way or another, ceased to enjoy their life. I believe that this change is perhaps not so far off, if only we can persuade the priests and the doctors to listen to those people”.
For the sixty-five individuals present on September 17th, it was a great pleasure to hear Lady Warnock, now aged 86, speaking so eloquently for so many of us who are nearing the end of our lives.
Michael Irwin
