Quotes from Derek Humphry

More than 40 percent of the suicides among chemists, both men and women, occur from swallowing cyanide, according to a report in the New York Times (9/4/87).

There is a growing moral view that patients should take charge of their own ends now that more sophisticated means of suicide – as described in this book – are available.

First, sodium thiopental is used to put the condemned individual to sleep; then follows Pavulon, a muscle relaxant similar to the South American poison curare, together with potassium chloride to stop the heart.

When choosing to die on a mountain or similar lonely place, it is considerate to leave a note saying where your body can be found. Otherwise, people might risk their lives and expend considerable resources hunting in dangerous places for you.

Not so bizarre, and a method for which I have respect, is freezing to death on a mountain. It takes a certain sort of person to want to die this way: having a love of and knowledge of mountains, determination, and the enduring courage to carry it off.

Another depressed man in southern California who collected rattlesnakes as a hobby deliberately allowed one of his pets to bite him five or six times on the right hand. He suffered a fatal heart attack.

A few terminally ill persons I have known have quietly ascended their favorite mountain late in the day and made sure that they were above the freezing line for that particular time of the year. They used public transport to get there so that a parked car would not be spotted. Then, wearing light clothing, they sat down in a secluded spot to await the end.

Remember, there are two ways to starve oneself to death: without food and fluids, which is the quicker way but more painful; and with fluids only, which is slower but less painful. In both methods, painkilling drugs and skilled nursing are desirable.

It is astonishing how many people do not make a will – legal scholars say about 85 percent of the population dies intestate.

EXIT's justification was that until a law permitting voluntary euthanasia was passed (which would place responsibility to help primarily on physi­cians), people had no alternative but to take their dying into their own hands.

The dilemma is awesome. But it has to be faced. Should you battle on, take the pain, endure the indignities, and await the inevitable end, which may be days, weeks, or months away? Or should you take control of the situation and resort to some form of euthanasia, which in its modern-language definition has come to mean "help with a good death"?

Involuntary euthanasia – This is the most controversial way of hastened death, yet it goes on widely and secretly everywhere. Only the Dutch admit to it. It is sometimes necessary when a patient is suddenly, unexpectedly dying in agony, cannot communicate their wishes, and so the attending doctor administers a merciful end.

Providing information about how persons may end their life is not a crime, at least in the United States, or I would have spent many years behind bars!

What separates a chosen "good death" from a bad one almost always comes down, upon analysis, to the amount of planning, attention to detail, and the quality of the assistance, all of which are vital to decent termination of life.

However much the drink is loaded with sweeteners, patients say it still tastes awful. Usually observers have noticed that the patients are so desperate to die that they ignore the nasty tasting drink. The Oregon dosage is: Seconal capsules reduced to powder - 9 grams & Pure water - 4 ounces – OR – Liquid Nembutal - 9 grams & Add water to suit

The key to the effectiveness of cyanide as a killer is the water. This is borne out by evidence in textbooks that flocks of sheep that have eaten plants containing cyanide do not die so long as they do not drink. If the animals are near water, the plants are fatal.

Self-destruction of a physically fit person is always a tragic waste of life and hurtful to survivors, but life is a personal responsibility. We must each decide for ourselves.

Self-destruction by hanging is almost always an act of protest, a desire to shock and hurt someone. Therefore, believers in euthanasia avoid it. Even if the job of cutting down the body is left to the police or paramedics, this is an unacceptably selfish way to die, and I have never heard of a euthanasia supporter using it. Unless the neck is broken by the rope jerking the fall to a stop (as a professional hangman arranges), then it is death by strangulation, often not so quick.

A slight deviation of the gun barrel and the bullet misses vital organs but inflicts terrible wounds. Reports in newspapers and journals indicate that the preferred method is to put the gun into the mouth and shoot upward, but even here there have sometimes been survivors.

Some doctors who specialize in the care of geriatric patients have told me that there are rare occasions when they have heard a very old, sick, and frail person announce, "I'm going to die today." And the individual did. But it doesn't happen often.

The helium drives oxygen from the brain, causing rapid brain death and leaves no traces.

If family circumstances unfortunately oblige you to end your life in a hospital or a motel, it is gracious to leave a note apologizing for the shock and inconvenience to the staff. I have also heard of individuals leaving a generous tip to the motel staff to compensate them for the disturbance caused.

Kahvalt? tepsisini kar?m?n baÅŸucuna b?rakmak üzereyken kafas?n? kald?r?p yüzüme bakt?; "zaman? geldi mi" diye sordu.

The medical Power of Attorney is legally enforceable, whereas the Living Will is not. It may seem like a man using both a belt and braces to keep his trousers up, but experience shows that if you care about a good death you cannot be too careful.