Select Page

Terminally ill risk being coerced into assisted suicide for insurance payout, warns palliative care doctor

A leading palliative care specialist and former head of the Association for Palliative Medicine has warned that some patients risk being pressured to opt for assisted suicide by relatives for an insurance payout.

Professor Bill Noble, former president of the Association for Palliative Medicine (APM), shared his concerns that “some patients would die before their time” if Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill becomes law.

Professor Noble said “My concern stems from my experience of a few families requesting, manipulating or misrepresenting my patients’ wish to die or be killed by medical intervention”.

“It is not common, but it does occur and if the consequences were not severe, I have no doubt that some patients would die before their time. Doctors have neither the capacity nor the capability of policing this issue”.

Professor Noble’s worries around “coercion”

Professor Noble’s comments came as The Telegraph reports that insurance companies will treat assisted suicide in a similar manner to death from any other illness. Zurich Insurance Group said that, although it currently does not have a policy on assisted suicide, it would treat assisted suicide claims “sympathetically” on a case-by-case basis. 

Royal London Group expressed similar sentiments, saying “If the individual who has passed away following an assisted death would likely have died naturally during the term of their plan, Royal London would likely pay such claims”.

However, Professor Noble shared his concerns that the prospect of such payouts could act as a kind of incentive.

“If the policy does not include terminal illness insurance and it is shortly coming to an end, it might well be a motive both for coercion and for the patient to choose assisted dying, particularly if the family understood the true nature of predictions of survival” he said.

The former APM president’s concerns about coercion have been echoed by key political leaders. Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who has already confirmed that he will vote against the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill, said on BBC Breakfast late last month that he was “concerned about the risk of people being coerced into taking their own lives sooner than they would have liked, or feeling… guilt-tripped, feeling like a burden”. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, who has also confirmed that he is not backing the assisted suicide Bill, fears that legalising assisted suicide could lead to indirect pressure on older individuals to end their lives to avoid being a burden.

“I don’t think that they should have any pressure – either indirect or, you know, the other way – that they’re a burden and that’s where I really worry”, Sir Ed said

Being a burden-a prominent “end-of-life concern”

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood also had similar concerns saying “I know some MPs who support this issue think, ‘For God’s sake, we’re not a nation of granny killers, what’s wrong with you’… [But] once you cross that line, you’ve crossed it forever. If it becomes the norm that at a certain age or with certain diseases, you are now a bit of a burden… that’s a really dangerous position”.

Fears about older individuals ending their lives to avoid being a burden have been seen in Oregon, which UK assisted suicide campaigners, Dignity in Dying, cite as a model for rolling out legislation. Almost half of those who have ended their lives by assisted suicide in Oregon said being a “[b]urden on family, friends/caregivers” was one of their “end-of-life concerns”.

Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “MPs should listen to Professor Noble’s concerns about the dangers of some vulnerable people being urged to choose assisted suicide by unscrupulous relatives who will be keen to profit from a relative’s passing”.

“The brutal truth is that there will be no effective safeguards for the elderly or vulnerable against pressure or coercion if the Leadbeater Bill becomes law. The best way forward is for MPs to vote against this dangerous Bill”.

Critical appealto protect vulnerable lives

Help stop three major anti-life threats.

The Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill can still be defeated at Third Reading, but only with your help.

Dear reader,

As you already likely know, the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill sadly passed Second Reading at the end of last month.

While it is very disappointing that the Bill passed Second Reading, an analysis published in The Independent shows that at least 36 MPs who supported the Bill did so only to allow further debate or because they had concerns that meant they won’t commit to supporting the Bill at Third Reading. Since then, our Public Affairs team has identified a number of other MPs who share these reservations.

With the vote passing by a margin of 55, just 28 MPs switching their stance to oppose the Bill would ensure it is defeated at Third Reading, so there is a clear path towards this Bill being defeated. We can still win this.

The assisted suicide lobby are fully aware that support for the Bill is very fragile. They will fight fiercely to prevent 28 MPs from switching their votes to oppose the Bill.

For the sake of the hundreds of thousands of vulnerable lives that will be put at risk, we must win the vote and defeat this dangerous Bill.

WE NEED YOUR HELP

Our campaign in the run-up to Second Reading was the biggest and most expensive we have ever run and so it has made a significant dent in our limited financial resources.

We are now working on an even bigger campaign to defeat this dangerous Bill at Third Reading.

To ensure we effectively defeat this extreme assisted suicide Bill, we are aiming to raise at least £100,000 by midnight this Sunday (15 December 2024).

Every donation, no matter the size, will mean YOU can make a crucial difference in saving vulnerable lives from this extreme law change.

Will you make a donation now to help protect vulnerable lives from this major threat?

Critical appealto protect vulnerable lives

Help stop three major anti-life threats.

The Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill can still be defeated at Third Reading, but only with your help.