ALS contract murder case Name of doctor arrested Referral request to attending doctor July 28 12:30
In a part-time murder case in which two doctors killed a woman suffering from an intractable disease and ALS with a drug, she wanted her doctor to write a letter of introduction to her doctor before the case. I was able to understand what I was requesting from interviews with related parties. The doctor who was arrested is also using SNS to ask a woman to transfer to her hospital, and the police are investigating the details.
In November of last year, doctors Kouichi Okubo (42) and Naoki Yamamoto (43) received a request from a 51-year-old woman in Kyoto City who suffered from ALS, an intractable disease in which the muscles of the whole body gradually stopped working. He was arrested on suspicion of a part-time murder for administering a drug and killing him.
According to police investigations so far, it seems that a woman and a doctor got to know each other about one year before the incident via SNS, but around the fall of last year, the woman named her doctor to her doctor and said, "A letter of introduction. I wanted to write it, but I found out newly by interviewing the people concerned.
The woman had also asked her doctor to euthanize her by reducing her nutrition, but the doctor did not persuade her to stop and she did not write a letter of introduction.
The doctor, who was arrested, told the woman through the SNS that she would take her to the hospital, "Do you want to go to this hospital? We will lead you to the natural end."
Japan ALS Association “Acts that violate medical ethics”
In response to this incident, the "Japan ALS Association" created by ALS patients and their families announced their comments on the official website on the 27th.
Among them, he criticized the arrested doctor for "being in contradiction to medical ethics," but for the deceased woman, "It is unusual for an ALS patient to exhale and request a person concerned to die. I can't blame the patient's thoughts or actions."
In addition, he said, "medical personnel, welfare, and supporters need to be close to and support the parties."
Japan Dignity Death Association "Social norm deviates and cannot be tolerated"
In addition, the "Japan Dignity Death Association" also made a comment on its website.
The association has been denying active euthanasia, which uses drugs to accelerate the death period, and has carried out activities such as the legislation of "dignity death" to stop life-prolonging treatment based on the patient's will.
In a comment, "This act is unacceptable because it deviates from social norms. There are some people who wish to discuss euthanasia, but it is easy to accept euthanasia without waiting for social awareness and system reform. Not."
On top of that, "behind the word wanting to die is the burden on the family and the pain and distress of losing the meaning of one's life. Care management that shares the pain of patients is desired, but an inadequate support system is required. , Which has led to many unhappy homicides and part-time murders."