One in five terminally ill patients given six months to live are still alive three years later, government data reveals. SPUC has stated that this “revelatory data” shows that Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill is “fundamentally flawed”.
Freedom of information requests have revealed that life expectancy prognoses for the terminally ill are inaccurate, with many patients living far longer than expected.
The data was provided by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which deals with universal credit claims from fast-tracked terminally ill patients who are entitled to claim.
The findings come as a committee of MPs assembles to scrutinise Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill. The Leadbeater Bill would grant assisted suicide to terminally ill patients with six months to live, signed off by two doctors and a judge.
Responding to the data release, Dr Matthew Doré of the Association for Palliative Medicine warned that, under assisted suicide laws, “lives would have been tragically cut short – and we would never have known.
“Can we accept a reality where one in five people might miss three more Christmases with loved ones due to the inherent uncertainty of medical prognoses?
“In practice, it comes down to the doctor’s discretion. How can you trust a so-called ‘safeguard’ which consistently and dramatically fails in being safe?”
Westminster MPs voted 330 to 275 in favour of Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill last November. It will be assessed by MPs who may propose amendments to the draft law.
SPUC comment
A SPUC spokesperson said: “This revelatory data sends a clear message to MPs that the Leadbeater Bill is fundamentally flawed and will needlessly rob vulnerable people of precious years of life.
“Rather than pushing patients into premature graves, the government should do all it can to ensure a comfortable end to life with family and friends – and not burden sick and elderly people with a terrifying decision, which is really no choice at all.
“Increasingly we see how unwise and misjudged these laws are. MPs must reject the Leadbeater Bill for the sake of all citizens. We are all potentially threatened by life-shortening assisted suicide legislation.”
