8/6/2019 Starving herself to death

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Starving herself to deathCarehome

ant force

woman

o eat

Decision taken: Margaret Page, 60, says she no longer wants to live. Declared lucid by three assessments, she is not eating and is drinking little. Photo: PHIL REID

e NewtonLTH

ISABLED woman starving her-has the legal right to choose toexperts say.

Margaret Page, 60, has not eaten10 days and has drunk only a

all amount of water.Her husband, separated from her12 years, wants her put in hos-l and forced to eat. But three psy-

atric assessments have found sheucid and cannot be forciblyted.

Mrs Page suffered a cerebralmorrhage 20 years ago and hasn living at St John of God, a Wel-

gton care home, since 2006.She went on hunger strike lastober but began eating after sevens.

She cannot speak well but wase to indicate yes and no tostions from the The Dominion

t yesterday.

Asked if she had deliberatelypped eating again, she nodded.

affirmed that she had made thatision because she no longer

nted to live.

She had been thinking about try-ing to die for a long time.

It was not hard to make the de-cision to starve herself. She agreedthat her family was upset she was

starving herself, but everybody ex-

cept her estranged husband, BarryPage, supported her decision.

Her daughter has enduringpower of attorney but is legally un-able to make decisions for Mrs Page

unless she is incapable of makingthem herself. Since she stopped eat-ing, Mrs Page has been assessedthree times by psychiatrists, includ-ing twice by crisis specialists. They

have found her mentally competent,

so cannot section her under theMental Health Act.

Mr Page, who still visits her, saysSt John was passively supportingher decision.

Theres been nothing done todissuade her. Theyve certainlyattempted to tell her [she will die]but there hasnt been strong re-inforcement.

However, St John chief executive

Ralph La Salle said the home haddone everything in its power to con-vince Mrs Page to eat. But it waslegally restricted by her right tochoose to die.

Weve made sure that weve con-tinued to offer [food] and even nowwe ask if its still something shewants to do. Weve done everythingwe can.

She was getting weak and St

John was arranging hospice care forher, he said.

Otago Universitys ProfessorJohn Dawson, an expert in mentalhealth law, said the care home ap-

peared to have complied with legalobligations. The first obligation othe rest home under the law is tohave her assessed, with a view tohaving her committed. If thatshappened and theyve decided shesnot committable .. . and this is just avoluntary attempt to die, then itsmuch more complicated theres nopower to treat her forcibly.

The Bill of Rights Act recogniseda persons right to refuse treatment,

he said.To force food on someone is ac-tually an assault on them.

I sympathise with [Mr Page]deeply but his daughter may nothave the power to make these deci-sions either.

It was not uncommon for peopleto refuse food and drink if they wereabout to die, but attempting suicideby starvation was rare, he said.

Dignity New Zealand Trust foun-der Lesley Martin, a euthanasia

campaigner who served eightmonths in prison in 2 0 02 forattempting to kill her mother, saidshe had been approached by MrsPages daughter at the weekend.

Doctors, the care home and MrsPages family supported her right todie and the only person opposing itwas Mr Page, Ms Martin said.

An otherwise healthy person cansurvive for up to six weeks withoutfood, although this drops to about 10days if they are also not drinking.

Dignity New Zealand has drafted

a Death with Dignity Bill, whichwould legalise assisted suicide, butneeds an MP to sponsor it.

Similar legislation was voteddown in Parliament in 1995 and 2003.

DreamoverBennett tellsunemployed

Beneficiaries test: Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says nobody wouldbe required to take work not suited to them. Photo: PHIL REID

tin Kay

INSIDEThe changes in detail A2INSIDEThe changes in detail A2RE than 60,000 beneficiaries face

ing their payments cut if they

to comply with tough new works.

Unemployment beneficiaries facestrictest regime, with Social De-

opment Minister Paula Bennetting the dream is over for thoseo cannot show an honest attemptind work after a year.If a real, demonstrable effort hasn made, their benefit will be

nstated. If not, well, Im afraid theam is over.The Government is also planningrk tests for domestic purposeseficiaries whose youngest childt least six and sickness benefici-s judged fit to work at least 15

urs a week.The main changes will affect000 beneficiaries, according tosent figures. Twelve thousande been on the dole for more than

ear, 43,000 DPB claimants havengest children over six and 9000

kness beneficiaries are judged fitwork part-time.A further 52,000 people on the

dole for less than a year will also besubjected to payment sanctions ifthey dont look for work.

The changes are among welfarereforms announced by Ms Bennettand Prime Minister John Key.

They include granting the unem-ployment benefit for only 12 monthsat a time, with recipients having to

reapply after that and show whatthey have done to find a job.

Beneficiaries who do not complywith job-search requirements duringthe year will have their benefit cutby half, suspended altogether after asecond failure and cancelled after athird. Sickness beneficiaries fit towork face the same sanctions fromMay next year.

Currently, suspending a benefitis the only sanction for beneficiarieswho refuse to seek work.

From September 27, DPB claim-ants whose youngest child is six willhave to be available to work at least15 hours a week. Failure to complywill see their benefit cut by half, but

they will retain additional assist-ance. Exemptions will be availablefor those in fulltime study or withmitigating circumstances such asspecial-needs children.

Mr Key said beneficiaries with

dependent children would not haveentitlements cut by more than half.

Ms Bennett who lived on theDPB periodically as a young solomother said nobody would be

required to take work not suited tothem, and factors such as childcarewould be taken into account.

The changes which includeDPB study loans and additionalfunds for childcare will cost $88

million in the first four years, butwill save just $300m from the $4.8bbenefit bill over the next decade.

Mr Key defended the compara-tively low savings, which he said

were based on extremely conserva-tive Treasury advice.

If we dont . . . tackle the difficultissues where people either wont geta job when they can or wont get theskills when they can . . . they will

languish on a benefit for the rest oftheir adult life and . . . thats unac-ceptable to most New Zealanders.

But Labour leader Phil Goff saidthe Government was cracking down

on beneficiaries when there werentenough jobs. Unemployment hastrebled .. . not because people dontwant to work but because the jobsarent there and this Governmentisnt focused on creating them.

Maori Party whip Te UruroaFlavell said the party would supportthe changes to a select committee,but was reserving its position be-yond that.

Living the nightmareAmanda Fisher

FAR from living the dream,Wellington resident Trevor, 24, hasbeen sinking into debt on theunemployment benefit.

Trevor moved to Wellington lastApril to look for work and use hisbachelor of design degree, but foundthe job market unforgiving.

Its pretty tough. I cant really doanything because I have no money. Ihave to make sacrifices.

Trevors $241 weekly benefit,which includes an $81

accommodation supplement, doesnot cover his weekly expenses, whichtotal $260. He pays $170 for rent,$50 in flat expenses, $20 for petroland $20 for food.

Ive had to sell some of my stuffto bridge the gap.

It doesnt seem like enough, butat the same time I can see how theydont want to give you too muchbecause they want you to realise youcant live on the amount the dolegives you, so you need to get a job.

He has been looking for work allyear, which has been pretty

demoralising. I know for the jobsIm applying for that theres going tobe like 400 other applicants applyingfor the same job.

He says it seems fair to work-testpeople after they have beenunemployed for a while, but he isworried people will have to forfeittheir desired careers to secure anincome.

I would like to think theyd besympathetic to my situation of tryingto find a job that pertains to mydegree, and Id also like to thinktheyll understand that applying for

jobs takes a lot of time and, if youhave another fulltime job, it cutsdown on the time you can spendapplying for a job you really want.

Benefits have becomeincreasingly inadequate in the pastfew years, New Zealand Federationof Family Budgeting Services chiefexecutive Raewyn Fox says.

With the cost of living thatsincreased over the past three years,[benefits] arent cutting the mustard.By the time you have paid your rentand bought your food, there isntanything left.

MAINBENEFITCHANGES

Unemployment beneficiaries must reapply for the dole every year and

show what theyve done to find work.

New graduated sanctions for failure to comply with job search

requirements.

New work tests for DPB once youngest child is six.

New work tests for sickness beneficiaries deemed fit to work 15 hours

or more a week.