In September a video promoting assisted suicide was branded sensationalist and scaremongering by Hospice UK, a leading UK end-of-life charity. The message was described as ‘misleading and irresponsible’ and Hospice UK called for the video to be removed.
It accused the activist group who produced the video, Dignity in Dying – formerly known as the Voluntary Euthanasia Society – of playing on people’s fear and anxiety. Dignity in Dying refused to back down, claiming that the video gives a ‘realistic portrayal’ of some deaths in the UK.
Tracey Bleakley, Chief Executive of Hospice UK, described the video as ‘a misrepresentation that undermines a strong evidence base of expert care delivered by over 200 hospices, care that consistently brings symptom relief and comfort’. She added that such campaigning could scare vulnerable people from accessing the support that they need.
