Philip Nitschke, MD - Euthanasia

Name:	Philip Nitschke, MD
Title:	Director and Founder of Exit International
Position:	Pro to the question "Should euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide be legal?"
Reasoning:	"My personal position is that if we believe that there is a right to life, then we must accept that people have a right to dispose of that life whenever they want... I do not believe that telling people they have a right to life while denying them the means, manner, or information necessary for them to give this life away has any ethical consistency." Interview with Kathryn Jean Lopez, "Euthanasia Sets Sail," National Review Online, June 5, 2001
Theoretical Expertise Ranking:	Experts MDs, JDs (Lawyers), PhDs and Religious Leaders with significant involvement in end-of-life issues. [Because end-of-life dilemmas require medical, ethical, legal, and in some case religious considerations, we view MDs, PhDs with a bio-ethical focus, and JDs/religious leaders with significant involvement as "experts" in the euthanasia debate.] [Note: Experts definition varies by site.]
Involvement and Affiliations:	Director and Founder, Exit International Australian of the Year, NT finalist, 2005 Australian of the Year, NT finalist, 2004 New Zealand Humanist of the Year, 2001 Australian Humanitarian of the year, 1997 NT Darwin Territorian of the year, 1997 Rainier Humanitarian award, Washington, 1996 Assisted in the world's first legal voluntary euthanasia death, that of Bob Dent, Sep., 1996 Assisted with the passage of Marshall Perron's "Rights of the Terminally Ill" (ROTI) Act
Education:	MD, Sydney University Medical School PhD, Laser Physics, Flinders University
Contact Info:	Phone: 61-88-98-31-929 Fax: 61-28-90-59-249 E-Mail: philip@exitinternational.net Website: Philip Nitschke, MD
Select Publications:	The Peaceful Pill Handbook, 2006 Killing Me Softly: Voluntary Euthanasia and the Road to the Peaceful Pill, 2005 Dispensing Death, Desiring Death, 1999-2000 "Seven Deaths in Darwin: Case Studies Under the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act, Northern Territory, Australia," The Lancet, Oct. 3, 1998
Other:	None found
Quoted in:	1. Should euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide be legal? 2. Do euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide violate the Hippocratic Oath? 3. Should euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide only be allowed for the terminally ill?