Geneva-based doctor Pierre Beck, vice-president of the assisted suicide organisation Exit, who helped a 86 year old woman end her life has been convicted by a Geneva court, according to the newspaper Le Matin.
The retired doctor was sentenced to a 120-day suspended sentence and a fine of CHF 2,400 for helping an 86 year old woman die. The woman, who suffered from no illness, had decided she wanted to die at the same time as her husband who was seriously ill. On 18 April 2017, the day her husband passed away, the woman took her own life using drugs prescribed the the doctor.
The court decided the rules applicable to assisted suicide had not be followed correctly, pointing out that the woman suffered no illness. In addition, the court decided that acting based on a personal conviction without consulting other doctors showed a lack of humility.
According to Beck’s lawyer an appeal is likely because the current verdict does not take into account the age of the woman, her existential grief, or her determination to die.
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Le Matin article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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JOYPATTINSON says
This removes the automatic right of an individual’s choice about their own lives. Because she was 86 she had earned the right to choose. This doctor was a brave man who wanted what the deceased considered was her right to die.