General Article
January 15, 2015
Euthanasia campaigner and suspended doctor Philip Nitschke tries his hand at comedy
Jill Poulsen, The Courier Mail
Voluntary euthanasia campaigner and suspended doctor Philip Nitschke has announced his career is about to take a comedic turn. Dr Nitschke will make his stand-up comedy debut in August at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He has teamed up with British comedian Mel Moon to write and deliver the show they are calling Comedy with Purpose. […]
January 15, 2015
Euthanasia activist Philip Nitschke loses legal battle to practice medicine
Prominent euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke has lost a legal battle to protect his registration to practice medicine after a tribunal ruled he posed a serious risk to the public and could undermine confidence in the medical profession. But Dr Nitschke has vowed to appeal the decision by the Northern Territory Health Professional Review Tribunal, saying […]
November 28, 2014
Precedent cited in Philip Nitschke case overturned
Amy Corderoy, The Sydney Morning Herald
A controversial ruling that a doctor has a duty to help strangers who are not their patients has been overturned in the Supreme Court. The decision has the potential to change the way doctors are expected to behave in emergencies, and might have ramifications for euthanasia advocate Philip Nitschke, who has been suspended for failing […]
November 21, 2014
Ethical duty to rescue: court of appeal
Much discussion followed the 2013 decision Medical Board of Australia v Dekker [2013] WASAT 182, a conduct matter following an incident in which a practitioner failed to stop and render assistance after a ‘near miss’ incident involving her motor vehicle and a second motor vehicle. For that earlier decision see http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/cases/wa/WASAT/2013/182.html In a judgment delivered […]
November 21, 2014
AMA is out of step with the community by opposing voluntary euthanasia
Terry Sweetman, The Courier Mail
POPE Francis was preaching to the immovable last week when he declared assisted suicide was a symptom of a “throw-away culture’’. But opinion polls suggest that, like the Catholic ruling on contraception, injunctions against voluntary euthanasia might increasingly be more honoured in the breach than the observance. The Pope doggedly called on doctors to take […]
November 18, 2014
Nembutal Patient Investigated by AHPRA
Flynn Murphy, The Medical Observer
THE sister of a motor neurone disease patient who took her own life says she was targeted by AHPRA investigators [led by Brett Judd who also goes by the assumed name of ‘Franklin Lebrowski’] who rummaged through her personal effects and recorded an interview with her without permission. Janine Wilson, 58-year-old sister of the late […]
November 13, 2014
Nitschke trial has ‘valuable purpose’
Voluntary euthanasia campaigner Dr Philip Nitschke is glad the issue of ‘rational suicide’ is being publicly debated, despite one case leading to his suspension. After a three-day hearing, the Northern Territory Health Professional Review Tribunal reserved its decision on his appeal against his suspension by the Medical Board of Australia. Dr Nitschke is yet to […]
November 13, 2014
Philip Nitschke: ‘I wish I had responded differently to man’s suicide email’
Philip Nitschke wishes he had responded differently when Nigel Brayley told him he intended to end his life, despite having no terminal illness, the controversial doctor told the NT health professional review tribunal on Wednesday. Giving unexpected testimony on the final day of the hearing in Darwin, Nitschke nevertheless stood by his assessment that the […]
November 13, 2014
Euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke says claims ‘vexatious’
Euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke says he is being held to higher standards than those expected from other doctors as he fights in a Darwin court to retain his right to practise medicine. The South Australian branch of the medical board used its emergency powers to suspend Dr Nitschke’s right to practice medicine after media reports […]
November 13, 2014
Euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke opens appeal against Medical Board over registration
It seemed fitting that euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke should be fighting for his medical licence and his professional reputation in the town where he first shot to world attention. On Monday in Darwin, Mr Nitschke began his appeal in the Northern Territory Civil and Administrative Tribunal against the decision by the Medical Board of Australia […]