IMMEDIATE RELEASE SUNDAY 3RD APRIL 2011

FATE, the Glasgow based Right to Die organisation, confirmed today that one of its leading members travelled to Switzerland last month, with two FATE members by her side, to end her own life.

Speaking in Glasgow, Dr Libby Wilson, FATE’s Convenor and Medical Advisor said "While we support Nan Maitland’s motives and method of death, we (and indeed she no doubt) regret that it was necessary to travel so far from home in order to die with dignity and in the manner of one’s own choice".

A memorial service took place in London last Tuesday to celebrate the life of Nan, an occupational therapist with a long time connection with the Assisted Suicide cause.

Nan was an active member of Friends At The End for many years. During this time, she wrote excellent book reviews for the FATE Newsletter, organized FATE meetings in London, and advised many individuals, in the UK, on how to travel to Switzerland for a physician-assisted suicide (actually, accompanying one person there in 2005).

Last month (March 1st), in her 85th year, Nan Maitland had a physician-assisted suicide in Switzerland. Before she left home in Chelsea, London, Nan had written the following message which she asked Dr Michael Irwin, who accompanied her on her last journey, to send to her "Dear Friends and Colleagues in the World Federation of Right-to-Die Societies" after her death:

 

By the time you read this, with the help of FATE and the good Swiss, I will have gone to sleep, never to wake.

 

For some time, my life has consisted of more pain than pleasure and over the next months and years the pain will be more and the pleasure less. I have a great feeling of relief that I will have no further need to struggle through each day in dread of what further horrors may lie in wait. For many years, I have feared the long period of decline, sometimes called 'prolonged dwindling', that so many people unfortunately experience before they die.

Please be happy for me that I have been able to escape from this, for me, unbearable future. I have had a wonderful life, and the great good fortune to die at a time of my choosing, and in the good company of two FATE colleagues. With my death, on March 1st, I feel I am fully accepting the concept of 'old age rational suicide' which I have been very pleased to promote, as a founder member of the Society for Old Age Rational Suicide (SOARS) in the past fifteen months.

Being active in the right-to-die movement, both in the UK and globally, has been an enormously important part of my life in the last few years. It has been wonderful and inspiring to meet so many amazing people who have been determined, often in the face of great odds, to help others to a peaceful pain-free death. I really hope that everybody's important and vital efforts will continue, and result in legalized assisted dying becoming a reality in many more areas of the world in the coming years.

Best wishes, Nan Maitland

 

Liz Nichols, a member of the FATE Council, and Dr. Michael Irwin were with Nan when she had a very peaceful and dignified death.

Dr Libby Wilson can be contacted on 0141 334 3287
Or Sheila Duffy Press and Publicity Officer 0141 334 6336

16th August 2010

FATE Press Release — for immediate publication

Dr. Libby Wilson, Fate’s high profile Convenor and Medical Adviser, who had faced prosecution in connection with the death of a Surrey woman, has been told this morning that her bail conditions have been cancelled. She had been summoned to appear at Woking police station this Friday (20th August). Dr. Wilson was detained a year ago and questioned by detectives after terminally ill academic, Cari Loder, who had multiple sclerosis, killed herself in June last year, and police discovered Dr. Wilson’s phone number among Ms. Loder’s records.

This latest news follows the decision, last month, by the Director of Public Prosecutions NOT to prosecute another FATE member — former GP Dr. Michael Irwin — for assisting financially and accompanying Raymond Cutkelvin, who was dying from pancreatic cancer, to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.

The case against Dr. Michael Irwin was dropped according to Keir Starmer, not because there was not enough evidence to prosecute him, but because it would not be in the public interest — one reason being his age…he is seventy nine. Dr. Wilson is eighty four.

Speaking at her home in the west end of Glasgow, Dr. Wilson said that while she was obviously relieved that she would no longer be facing any charges, she is concerned not only about the lack of clarity that still surrounds the position of those who help others to die, but also about the enormous waste of public money and police time that is involved.

In addition, Dr. Wilson, a retired GP, believes this has lead to a ‘two tier’ situation regarding assisted suicide — those who can afford to travel to Dignitas, and those who cannot and are therefore left either to suffer unbearably or adopt drastic measures to end their lives.

Dr Libby Wilson can be contacted direct on 0141 334 3287.

Or press inquiries via Sheila Duffy on 0141 337 1588.

5th July 2010
FATE Press Release - for immediate publication

Dr. Libby Wilson, Fate’s high profile Convenor and Medical Adviser, who faces prosecution in connection with the death of a Surrey woman, has been told this morning that her bail surrender has been deferred for the FIFTH time. She had been summoned to appear at Woking police station on the 9th of July. Dr. Wilson was detained a year ago and questioned by detectives after terminally ill academic, Cari Loder, who had multiple sclerosis, killed herself in June last year, and police discovered Dr. Wilson’s phone number among Ms. Loder’s records.

This latest news follows the decision, last month, by the Director of Public Prosecutions NOT to prosecute another FATE member -former GP Dr. Michael Irwin - for assisting financially and accompanying Raymond Cutkelvin, who was dying from pancreatic cancer, to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.

The case against Dr. Michael Irwin was dropped according to Keir Starmer, not because there was not enough evidence to prosecute him, but because it would not be in the public interest – one reason being his age...he is seventy nine. Dr. Wilson is eighty four.

Speaking at her home in the west end of Glasgow, Dr Wilson said that she is concerned not only about the lack of clarity that still surrounds the position of those who help others to die, but also about the enormous waste of public money and police time that is involved. “How much longer is this expensive farce going to continue?”

In addition she believes this has lead to a ‘two tier’ situation regarding assisted suicide - those who can afford to travel to Dignitas, and those who cannot and are therefore left either to suffer unbearably or adopt drastic measures to end their lives.

Dr Libby Wilson can be contacted direct on 0141 334 3287
Or press inquiries via Sheila Duffy on 0141 337 1588
 

26th June 2010
FATE Press Release - for immediate publication

Friends at the End, the Scottish based pro euthanasia organisation, today welcomed the decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions NOT to prosecute one of its highest profile members, former GP Dr. Michael Irwin, for assisting financially and accompanying Raymond Cutkelvin, who was dying from pancreatic cancer, to the Dignitas clinic in order to commit suicide.

Keir Starmer QC concluded, after an investigation that has dragged on for nearly a year, that it would not be in the public interest to prosecute Dr. Irwin, nor Mr. Cutkelvin’s partner who also went with him to Switzerland.

However, Fate’s Convenor and Medical Adviser, Dr. Libby Wilson, STILL faces prosecution over a separate incident, and is due to surrender her bail to Woking police on the 9th July. Dr. Wilson was detained and questioned by detectives after a terminally ill Surrey woman with multiple sclerosis - Cari Loder- killed herself in June last year, when police discovered Dr. Wilson’s phone number among Ms. Loder’s records.

Dr. Libby Wilson, speaking at her home in the west end of Glasgow, is concerned not only about the lack of clarity that still surrounds the position of those who help others to die, but also about the enormous waste of public money and police time that is involved - this will be the fourth occasion that Dr. Wilson has been ordered to appear before Guildford police.

In addition she believes this has lead to a ‘two tier’ situation regarding assisted suicide - those who can afford to travel to Dignitas, and those who cannot and are therefore left either to suffer unbearably or adopt drastic measures to end their lives.

Dr Libby Wilson can be contacted on 0141 334 3287
Or press inquiries via Sheila Duffy on 0141 337 1588
 

With regard to the news of Dr. Iain Kerr’s censure by the Fitness to Practise panel of the GMC, it is sad to witness an obviously well respected and compassionate GP being dragged in front of the panel to justify his actions towards an eighty seven year old patient, who plainly knew her own mind and wished to end her life.