Charges dropped against physician who helped man die in Sweden

[Sensei]

This only received limited attention in Swedish news media. In short, a Swedish physician assisted a man suffering form ALS in committing suicide; he was about to go to Switzerland, but the trip was cancelled. The physician turned himself over to the police, but all charges have now been dropped. In other words, assisted suicide is now officially declared legal in Sweden. Below is a translation of an article in Swedish: Förundersökning om dödshjälp läggs ner. I used Google Translate so there may be some errors.

The doctor Staffan Bergström who assisted an ALS-sick man with a lethal dose of sleeping pills escapes prosecution, reports Dagens Medicin [a Swedish magazine primarily for healthcare professionals, "Medicine of Today"].

It was in mid-July last year that Staffan Bergström, doctor and professor emeritus international health, told that he provided an ALS-sick man with a lethal dose of sleeping pills [pentobarbital?] that the sick man then took himself.

Afterwards, Staffan Bergström reported himself to the police. Later, the Swedish Health and Care Inspectorate (Ivo) also filed a complaint.

But now the prosecutor is closing the preliminary investigation, reports Dagens Medicin.

"The measures taken by the designated person have not been so independent in relation to what the plaintiffs themselves have done that these alone were sufficient to lead to the plaintiff's death," the prosecutor writes according to the newspaper.

The prosecutor also states that suicide and aiding and abetting suicide are not punishable.

Staffan Bergström, who is also chairman of the association The Right to a Dignified Death, has previously said that he wants the debate and an inquiry into euthanasia to be raised again in Sweden.

 

[GenesAndEnvironment]

Based doctor. God bless him, especially if he hit the patient with that pentobarbital.

 

[Sensei]

Based doctor. God bless him, especially if he hit the patient with that pentobarbital.

I don't know if it was pentobarbital; that's just my guess. It merely says "sleeping pills" in all news sources. They may very well have gotten it all wrong anyway, because I don't think they're as obsessed with suicide methods as we are.

 

[SuicidallyCurious]

Pretty cruel to arrest someone in assisting an ALS patient. The disease is notoriously debilitating and probably one of the more well known rare diseases

 

[Sensei]

Pretty cruel to arrest someone in assisting an ALS patient.

He actually turned himself in. He wants a public debate about assisted suicide.

The disease is notoriously debilitating and probably one of the more well known rare diseases

Agreed. I'd say it's one of the worst diseases you can get.

 

[Isadeth]

I'm glad the doctor wasn't prosecuted. We need more doctors willing to do this for patients suffering.

 

[Makko]

Could you post the link to the original article? Thanks.

 

[LakatosDiogenesz]

This man is more of a hero than most other doctors, he went beyond his 'job' and risked his entire career to do what is right.

 

[Abir_london]

This man is more of a hero than most other doctors, he went beyond his 'job' and risked his entire career to do what is right.

I second that

 

[Sensei]

Could you post the link to the original article? Thanks.

It's in my original post; it's a little bit difficult to distinguish the links. Anyway, here it is again: Förundersökning om dödshjälp läggs ner.

 

[Makko]

It's in my original post; it's a little bit difficult to distinguish the links. Anyway, here it is again: Förundersökning om dödshjälp läggs ner.

Thanks, I'm using dark theme which makes links hard to see.

I can comment on the legal aspect.

Suicide is not a crime in Sweden. Therefore assisting suicide cannot be a crime either. However, you risk of being convicted of murder or manslaughter, depending on what exactly you're doing. For example, providing someone with pills is not murder, because it's not the killing act and not a direct causation of the death. The killing act is swallowing the pills which the other person does by themselves. But if you administer an injection, for example, then that is the killing act, and then it'll probably be deemed murder.

So you can legally assist suicide, you just need to do it right.

 

[Sensei]

Suicide is not a crime in Sweden. Therefore assisting suicide cannot be a crime either. However, you risk of being convicted of murder or manslaughter, depending on what exactly you're doing. For example, providing someone with pills is not murder, because it's not the killing act and not a direct causation of the death. The killing act is swallowing the pills which the other person does by themselves. But if you administer an injection, for example, then that is the killing act, and then it'll probably be deemed murder.

So you can legally assist suicide, you just need to do it right.

Right. This has not been clear before this verdict, though.

 

[Makko]

Right. This has not been clear before this verdict, though.

Not really, it was legally clear from the start. If it was in any way unclear, the prosecutor would have pressed the case all the way to the Supreme court. It might have been unclear to the doctor himself and to the media, though.

 

[KuriGohan&Kamehameha]

People at institutions in my country (not in Sweden, but still in Europe) were having an assisted suicide and euthanasia debate fairly recently. I think policymakers are getting to the breaking point where they can no longer pushback hard against assisted ctb, because of how many people can and will go to Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, and now Spain, in order to get euthanasia.

Of course there were still many protests. One "expert" of ethics in my country offered a waffling argument where she tried to say that assisted ctb is terrible because we should be providing people care instead until they die of natural causes (no matter how terminal their condition is) and also that medical workers feelings are more important than someone's suffering and desire to die.

However, this argument isn't really tenable when you think about how much suffering doctors are causing people in my country by yanking out feeding tubes and making terminally ill people starve to death, sometimes for days. As long as people point out the hypocrisy of the objections to assisted suicide, the power anti choice lawmakers have over us will continue to wane.

 

[Sensei]

Not really, it was legally clear from the start. If it was in any way unclear, the prosecutor would have pressed the case all the way to the Supreme court. It might have been unclear to the doctor himself and to the media, though.

If it wasn't unclear, why would they press charges?

 

[Makko]

If it wasn't unclear, why would they press charges?

They didn't. The prosecutor just looked at the complaint and put it down, i.e. closed the case right there before it even made it to court. No one was charged with anything.

 

[GenesAndEnvironment]

Suicide is not a crime in Sweden. Therefore assisting suicide cannot be a crime either.

I've heard that escaping from prison is not a crime yet aiding and abetting a fugitive can be (depending on the relationship between runaway and aide).

 

[Makko]

I've done a quick search and found that the question has been answered as early as 1979. See attached Supreme Court verdict. Read particularly p. 816 (p. 13 of the PDF).

Original:

"I överensstämmelse med vad som upptagits i HovR:ns dom är det enligt gällande rätt en brottslig handling att uppsåtligen beröva en annan person livet, även om dödandet sker med dennes samtycke. I princip straffritt är däremot ett förfarande som ej är att beteckna annorledes än som medhjälp till självmord."

Google TL, edited by me:

"In accordance with what has been said in the Court of Appeal's judgment, it is a criminal offense under current law to
intentionally deprive another person of their life, even if the killing takes place with that person's consent. On the other hand, that is not a criminal offense which is not to be described otherwise than as aiding and abetting suicide."

 

[Sensei]

They didn't. The prosecutor just looked at the complaint and put it down, i.e. closed the case right there before it even made it to court. No one was charged with anything.

I have to admit that I've only looked at this briefly so I can't say that you're wrong. Be that as it may, it should be crystal clear to everyone by now.

 

[Superdeterminist]

Nice to have a bit of good news!