December 5, 2013
Philip Nitschke’s Adelaide euthanasia clinic comes under police scrutiny
Police across Australia have contacted euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke over recent deaths involving items for sale at his new Adelaide-based clinic.
Dr Nitschke, who founded voluntary euthanasia advocacy group Exit International, set up the clinic in suburban Adelaide last month.
He says the clinic’s reach extends well beyond South Australia, with online consultations now occurring regularly with clients in other states.
Dr Nitschke assisted four people to die during the brief period when euthanasia was legal in the Northern Territory in 1997 and 1998.
Since the NT laws were struck out, Dr Nitschke says he has been careful to ensure he is operating within the law.
“It is a grey area,” he told 7.30.
“We’ve been in that grey area for some 17 years now.”
This year, proposed legislation to legalise euthanasia has failed in New South Wales, Tasmania and South Australia.
Dr Nitschke says the moves are creating more demand for his services.
“It’s in the context of failure after failure that more and more elderly people are saying, ‘Look, I can’t wait around for laws – I want to know what I can do with my own personal strategy’,” he said.
Nitrogen canisters sold by Nitschke’s company found next to bodies
In South Australia, it is a crime for a person to “incite, counsel, aid or abet” another person to commit suicide or attempt to commit suicide.
The wording varies from state to state, but assisting suicide is a crime in all Australian jurisdictions.
Providing people with the information they use to commit suicide, however, has not been seen as an offence.
Dr Nitschke’s clinic contains controversial material including his banned euthanasia handbook, and equipment used for testing banned euthanasia drugs.
His company, Max Dog Brewing, has its nitrogen canisters stacked openly against the walls.
The gas is ostensibly for use by home brewing enthusiasts but his clients usually have other ideas.
“The motto of the company is dispense or dispose … if you see what I mean,” Dr Nitschke said.
7.30 has seen correspondence between Dr Nitschke and police in New South Wales and Queensland after his Max Dog Brewing nitrogen cylinders were found next to bodies in both states.
Dr Nitschke’s lawyers advised him not to respond to the emails.
Online consultations provide advice on taking life-ending drugs
Jacqueline Meredith, 81, is one of Dr Nitschke’s first interstate clients.
She lives on Sydney’s lower north shore and has a terminal lung disease.
Mrs Meredith has illegally obtained the powerful sedative Nembutal, which she says she will take to end her life when the time is right.
“I don’t want to die,” she said.
“I’m happy, I’m leading a good full life. I go off to yoga and I’m active, but I want to die when I can no longer look after myself.”
Among the services Dr Nitschke offers is a test that will verify a drug’s purity.
In an online video consultation with Mrs Meredith, Dr Nitschke advises her, “it’s a very simple drug to take, you’ll just have to mix it with water and take it as a drink”.
Dr Nitschke will be travelling to New South Wales and Queensland soon, where he will test Mrs Meredith’s drugs to ensure their purity.
He says he is careful not to take possession of the drugs and makes it clear no-one is allowed to assist with someone’s plans.
“The idea that having someone present could implicate them is a concern,” he said.
“Of course, the other issue is making sure that the drug is pure so that when you do take it, you will indeed get the peaceful death that the drug provides.”
Nitschke under scrutiny from South Australia police
Police in South Australia are keeping a close eye on his activities.
Last week, two officers from the South Australia Police Major Crime Investigation Branch visited Dr Nitschke’s clinic.
Dr Nitshcke says the visit was cordial and the officers were there to ask him if he understood the laws in South Australia relating to assisted suicide.
Dr Nitschke says he has had many enquiries from police over the years.
“Police will ring up and say they’ve found a copy of the book and wanting to know whether we were involved in that person’s death,” he said.
South Australia’s Police Commissioner, Gary Burns, admits that it is possible Dr Nitschke is operating in a grey area of the law.
But he says as long as he does not break the law as it stands, it is not a police matter.
“We’ll monitor it and we won’t take our eye off it, but at this stage there is no police action,” he said.