‘Endgame’ Documentary on Assisted Dying Available Online

Endgame is a documentary made over 18 months in 2017/8 by independent film maker Andi Reiss. It has been shown, with much praise, at many film festivals and at independent venues. He has now made it available to view on his Vimeo site. A link is embedded at the bottom of this page.

The film, which lasts 65 minutes, follows the stories of Marie, Omid and Alex: three people contemplating a medically assisted suicide in Switzerland. At points the viewing is harrowing and highly emotional – please take that as a warning and have tissues to hand if you watch it!

The documentary asks hard questions and interviews people central to the debate including: Saimo Chahal, (Lawyer for Omid and previously Tony Nicklinson); Richard Huxtable, (Professor of Medical Ethics and Law, Bristol University); Dr Erika Preisig, (Lifecircle) and Rt Rev Lee Rayfield (Bishop of Swindon).

The final section of the film shows Marie and Omid ending their lives at Lifecircle in Switzerland. The in-depth interviews with them immediately prior to them ending their lives are particularly striking. The footage starkly contrasts, on the one hand the joy and gratitude of two people able to peacefully end their suffering after a long period of careful consideration, but on the other hand, the inevitable sadness at loss of life. Omid clearly found happiness in his final interview, the day before he ended his life. The cries of those he left behind speak for themselves.

Another important aspect of the film is that it shows the speed and ease of the intravenous method of medically assisted suicide used at Lifecircle. By controlling a valve, the patient knowingly takes the final step themselves, clearly making this an act of assisted suicide rather than voluntary euthanasia, but because there is no oral ingestion the death is quick and predictable. Dr Preisig has previously told MDMD that using this method the time taken to die is “always the same, 30 seconds to fall asleep, and 4 minutes to die. No coughing, no vomiting, no pain at all”. This contrasts with the possibility of many hours with oral methods, as demonstrated in a recent BBC2 documentary which showed a case in California which took 7.5 hrs.

The tragedy of Omid’s death, which movingly ends the film, is not that Omid chose to end his life. Instead, the tragedy is that Omid’s legal challenge failed and that his eventual medically assisted suicide in Switzerland was so difficult for him to arrange, causing him prolonged suffering he wanted to avoid. It also put his grieving friends and family at risk of prosecution under the UK’s assisted suicide law.

Marie and Omid considered all their alternative options carefully. MDMD strongly advocates good palliative care but recognises that the option of assisted dying is essential for some people for whom even the best palliative alternatives are inadequate.

MDMD’s work will not be complete until this type of peaceful “good death” is integrated into improved palliative care in the UK. Currently the option is only available in the UK to a fortunate and determined few who manage to arrange it in Switzerland. Outsourcing medically assisted dying to another country should only be be seen as a temporary stopgap, pending a compassionate, safe law to permit medically assisted dying for people like Marie, Omid and Alex in the UK, after full and open discussion with their UK doctors. Many of the problems with the current UK arrangement are discussed here and in this study.



Endgame 65 min Oct 2018 from Andi Reiss & Yellow Media Group on Vimeo.

Read more

Death of MD.MG’s Distinguished Member Dr Michael O’Donnell

My Death, My Decision was saddened to hear recently of the death of Dr Michael O’Donnell, a distinguished member of our Medical group and an active supporter of assisted dying. As Michael proudly recalled in his short CV when he joined us, “the British Medical Journal said ‘not to have read Michael O’Donnell’s World Medicine was to have been incomplete as a doctor’.” He edited World Medicine for 16 years. Its influence lay in the fact that it was the only non-academic medical journal read by both GPs and hospital doctors but Michael himself regularly came top of the poll in elections to the General Medical Council, where he was a leading voice for much-needed reforms. As a medical student, he wrote and acted in reviews and his friendly manner made him a popular choice for several regular radio and TV programmes

In 2010 following the far-from-peaceful and dignified death of his wife, he wrote a powerful article for the BMJ in support of assisted dying. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family.

Read more

New Jersey Legalises Assisted Dying

On 12th April 2019 the Governor of the US state of New Jersey, Phil Murphy, signed a bill into law which allows assisted suicide for those who have mental capacity, are terminally ill, and are within six months of dying. The law is based on a similar law in Oregon which has been in force for over 20 years.

New Jersey is the 8th US state to pass this form of legislation, following Oregon (1994); Washington (2004); Vermont (2014); California (2016); Colorado (2016); Washington DC (2017) and Hawaii (2018). The addition of New Jersey, brings the US population with access to assisted dying to almost 70 million – over 20% (1 in 5) of the total population of the USA. (Assisted dying is also permitted in Montana, though this is by virtue of a court ruling rather than legislation.)

In signing the New Jersey Bill, Governor Murphy, a Catholic, is quoted as saying:

“After careful consideration, internal reflection and prayer, I have concluded that, while my faith may lead me to a particular decision for myself, as a public official I cannot deny this alternative to those who may reach a different conclusion.”

“I believe this choice is a personal one and, therefore, signing this legislation is the decision that best respects the freedom and humanity of all New Jersey residents.”

MDMD applauds Governor Murphy for taking this position and sharing his reasoning. It was clearly a difficult personal decision for him, but in putting respect for the autonomy of others above his personal beliefs he demonstrates an important principle that others of faith should follow. His decision also shows compassion for those who need to use this law to enable them to have what for them is a good death.

As an organisation, MDMD welcomes supporters of all faiths and none. We respect the values, choices and traditions of others to make their own end-of-life decisions for themselves. We plead for the type of reciprocal respect and understanding which Governor Murphy has shown in passing this legislation. Unfortunately, many religious leaders and organisations do not share Governor Murphy’s tolerance of other people’s views. Two recent examples of this, concerning the renewed attempt to change the law in Scotland, appear in articles published by the Scottish Catholic Observer and the Christian Institute. It is unfortunate that these bodies fail to show the compassion and respect demanded by 93% of the UK population – a figure which demonstrates just how out of touch the views of those opposed to change are.

Although MDMD welcomes the New Jersey law as a first step towards a more humane approach to dying in the 21st century, we believe that the “Oregon model” approach has significant limitations. Most significantly the 6 month terminal illness criterion excludes many people who quite rationally long for medical assistance to die. In addition, there are concerns over the support and counselling given to those who choose to make use of the law, and the process by which assisted dying drugs are administered. These issues were demonstrated in a Louis Theroux documentary shown on BBC2 in November 2018. MDMD are pleased that these issues are now actively being reviewed in Oregon.

Despite these reservations, the new law in New Jersey is another clear sign of the progress being made by right-to-die campaigners around the world. Progress that, we hope, will one day reach the UK – which is looking increasingly backward on the issue.

Read more

Renewed campaign to legalise assisted dying in Scotland.

A major push is being made to change the law in Scotland, led by Dignity in Dying (Scotland).  MDMD strongly supports this. Although their campaign is limited to the “terminally ill”, we note that Scotland now has a broader definition of terminal illness that no longer includes the six month life expectancy criterion. We hope that the campaign in Scotland provides the first step towards a law that will help those who are incurably suffering, like Tony Nicklinson, Debbie Purdy and Omid, in additional to the “terminally ill”.

As part of the campaign, in this BBC story, Kay Smith, who is suffering from various untreatable conditions which are expected to result in a painful death, describes how she wants an assisted death. As a former palliative care nurse, now in palliative care herself, she knows better than most the limits of what palliative care can offer.

This article and others quote the results of a Populus survey which shows that 87% of respondents in Scotland back a change in law for those who are terminally ill with 6 months or less to live. Interestingly the figures quoted for Scotland are a little higher than the 84% quoted for Great Britain. The new poll shows increased support than in polls a few years ago. These results are in accordance with MDMD’s recent poll, though the questions are not directly comparable.

The MDMD poll compared acceptability of various forms of assisted dying. The greatest level of support was for terminal illness in the broad (Scottish) sense of an illness which will eventually cause death, rather than limited to those with a life expectancy of 6 months or less. The MDMD poll found 93% considered medical assistance to die acceptable in at least some circumstances for someone who was terminally ill in this broad sense, compared to 88% when the 6-month criterion for terminal illness was included.

Perhaps the difference in Scotland can be explained as the definition of “terminal illness” in Scotland no longer includes the 6-month criterion, following a change in law instigated by Scottish doctors a year ago. This is very welcome news as it implies that the Scottish campaign for a law permitting assisted dying for the “terminally ill” will use the broader criterion.

MDMD is pleased that there are now discussions to try to broaden the terminal illness definition in England and Wales too. We strongly support this move and hope that it results in England and Wales following Scotland’s lead.

Read more
Privacy Policy | Conditions of Use | Press Office
campaign in parliament
champion legal cases
broaden the debate

My Death, My Decision is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England company number 11758121 and located at Unit A 39 Moreland Street, London, EC1V 8BB.