Assisted Dying Drugs to Be Managed by Hospital Pharmacists Effective 19th of June

The 3 Alfred Hospital pharmacists will be responsible for mixing the doses and delivering the lethal dose to be taken by qualified voluntary assisted dying patients.

The said drugs used to combine the dose are now legal in Australia.

Majority of the suitable patients will drink the dose in their own homes at their chosen time. Those physically incapacitated of swallowing will be able to take the drugs via an intravenous drip assisted by doctors.

The Victoria’s assisted dying laws state’s model includes rigid standards:

• Only adults who can decide for themselves, who are suffering and have an untreatable disease, advanced and continuous disease, illness or medical condition that can cause death within 6 months or 12 months for people with neurodegenerative ailment can access the program.
• A person who meets all of the strict eligibility standards can only access voluntary assisted dying. They can make 3 clear requests and have 2 independent medical evaluations that will determine their eligibility.
• The said request must be started by the person themselves. Health practitioners treating the patient who raise the problem will be subjected to unprofessional conduct investigations.

A report stated that almost 90 doctors across Victoria including a number of GPs as well as sedative care practitioners and specialists, already began a mandatory training needed to undertake voluntarily assisted dying.

A Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board has also been built to review every case.