Hospital to offer kill drugs

TERMINALLY ill Victorians wanting to access voluntary euthanasia will have to get the lethal drugs from Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital.

The hospital’s pharmacy service will be the only point of access for dispensing the medications, acting Health Minister Martin Foley announced yesterday.

Victoria passed historic assisted dying legislation in November 2017, decades after the Territory first established such rights for its residents before the federal government overruled it.

Victoria’s scheme will now be up and running by June 19. “The Alfred is one of Victoria’s leading hospitals. Having a single point of access for voluntary assisted dying is just one of the ways we’re making sure the model is the safest and most conservative in the world,” Mr Foley said.

“We’ve made voluntary assisted dying legal because a person’s quality of death is part of their quality of life – and everyone deserves a dignified choice at the end of their lives.”

Only adults with decisionmaking capacity, who are suffering an incurable, advanced condition which is likely to cause death within six months, or 12 months for people with neurodegenerative conditions, can access the scheme.

People must make three clear requests and have two independent medical assessments to determine they are eligible.