Voluntary euthanasia campaigner Dr Philip Nitschke was not surprised that “…men aged 85 years and older are committing suicide at a higher rate than any other group…” This came after a report by Chief Coroner Judge Neil MacLean which drew attention to this finding last month.
Dr Nitschke, the Director of Exit International, said “…many of these deaths occurred in the context of ill health and a deteriorating quality of life. The elderly were now less inclined to let “nature take its course”, but actively sought out the information needed so that they could determine the point of their death.”
Exit has been instrumental in providing elderly New Zealanders with supplies of MaxDog nitrogen, which leads one to wonder if that was a cause of any of the elderly suicides.