| In advance of MPs debating the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on Friday, the Catholic Union has written to its members and supporters urging them to contact their MP expressing about an area of gross oversight which in any other area of medicine would be unacceptable. Current drug regimens used in physician-assisted suicide via self-administered lethal drugs are unlicensed, and unregulated with little pharmacological understanding of efficacy and safety at high doses. The bill bypasses regulatory safeguards, exempts lethal doses and combinations of drugs from licensing, from adverse event reporting and Coroner referral thus setting a very dangerous precedent in clinical practice. There has been little discussion about issues relating to prescribing and administration of lethal drugs as well as the clinical outcomes. It is important for MPs to understand that technical difficulties and complications frequently arise rather than the anticipated peaceful death. By way of example, in Oregon in 2024 patients took between 3 minutes and 137 hours to die. As it stands the Bill proposes that the Secretary of State for Health would approve the drugs. This is contrary to all established practices for drug approvals and bypasses the established safety and regulatory framework that governs all other medicines in the UK. You can request a summary from info@catholicunion.org.uk and these pre-prints Gaps in pharmacological safety and regulatory oversight in the UK’s assisted dying bills (BMJ Analysis, unsubmitted) and Untested, unlicensed, unregulated: Prescribing and oversight issues in Physician Assisted Dying/Suicide (BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care Editorial). We encourage you to share these with your MP who has the incredibly difficult job of deciding whether this poorly drafted bill should pass. |
