A HIGHLY-experienced chest doctor says wrongful deaths will occur under Queensland’s proposed euthanasia laws, due to misdiagnosis.
Thoracic physician, Dr Luke Garske, spoke out during a March for Life rally in Brisbane on September11, just days before Queensland MPs are due to debate a Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill.
“Unfortunately diseases are hard to predict and doctors make dramatic mistakes, at times,” Dr Garske said.
Debate will start in the Queensland parliament on Tuesday, September 14 and last several days before a final vote.
Dr Garske spoke to a crowd of about 1000 VAD opponents about his experience with a patient who had a severe lung condition and was relying on oxygen to walk even a few steps.
Dr Garske told this patient he could expect to live for another 12 months.
“Six months later it became obvious he had a different diagnosis and he continued to improve,” he said.
“He (the patient) returned to my clinic once a year for the next 13 years, and every time he came in he had a big smile to remind me of my mistake.
“Now I ask you would it be okay if this patient had decided to have assisted suicide based on my wrong advice at the start?
“Now you might be thinking – that’s a ‘one off’ miracle case – but I am not actually a below average doctor, and there are thousands of doctors like me.
“All experienced doctors have made a wrong diagnosis, and all experienced doctors have learned they can be wildly wrong in predicting survival.”
Dr Garske said there would be no practical way under Queensland’s proposed assisted dying laws to detect wrongful deaths of this kind.
Under Queensland’s VAD bill a person is eligible for voluntary assisted dying if they are expected to die within 12 months.
Under other Australian models the period is six months, except for progressive neurological conditions, in which case it’s 12 months.
“With the 12 months survival in Queensland there will be more wildly wrong estimates of survival, patients missing out on potentially many good years,” Dr Garske said.
“So the Queensland VAD will cause even more wrongful deaths.
“Please keep us all safe.”
