"I'm not a killer": Doctor who put 43 patients to death

It's been two years since Dr. Cameron McLaren injected businessman Phil Ferraroto into his arm. He died a few minutes later, and Cameron was confronted with his new reality as a doctor who put one of his patients to death to save him from pain.

Since then, Dr. McLaren, a 38-year-old cancer specialist, has given 15 people lethal doses of powerful drugs and was present at the time of the deaths of the 27 other patients who took the drugs they prescribed. ۔

He is one of 183 doctors in the southeastern Australian city of Victoria who is actively involved in the process of helping patients who are incurable. It's a process that some campaigners and lawmakers want to see approved in the UK. The second reading of the Death Assistance Bill has been completed in the British capital.

Dr. Cameron, a Melbourne resident of Australia and a father of two, agreed to speak to The Independent about what it was like for him to be part of the process of ending so many lives as a trained physician. ۔

When we interviewed him on the Virtual Meeting app Zoom, he said that he did not see himself as a helper in dying. He did not campaign in Victoria until the law was finally changed in 2017.

"What I do is not wrong."

But now, after helping 16 of his patients die and witnessing a total of 43 deaths, Cameron reveals the depth of the pathways his patients have and what they do. Are

"What I do is not wrong," says Cameron. Patients and their families appreciate this work more than anything I have ever done in the field of medicine. It's the most satisfying thing I've ever done. Not only in terms of serving patients and their families but also in terms of being able to share their experience and clarify perspectives on assisted death.

I ask him if he considers himself a murderer and his answer is heartfelt as to why he and the other doctors who helped him die. It is a matter of patient choice.

"I am not a murderer. This is not murder. Cancer and the resulting patient's condition have already done this. This has led to the social death of the patient. Patients also lose the minimum standard of living on which they want to continue their life. They are in a state between life and death and anxious for the end. The task is to bring them to this conclusion. These people are choosing decisions and actions and I do not agree that this is wrong.

As far as Phil Ferraroto is concerned, death was a release for him after 18 years of battling cancer. Cancer affected many of his organs. He could barely breathe and had constant pain. There was a connection between the doctor and the patient that was about to be shared. Ferraro maintained his sense of humor to the end. He asked Dr. McLaren to take him out so that he could "win the prize for the best decoration."

In his post, Ferraro wrote: "I thought a lot about how to thank you for what you have done for me. I decided to write a letter so that you will never forget it. I thank you for your bravery in giving me today's medicine so that I can finally find peace. '

"I am just happy and proud to know you as a moment that feels short," he added. I am proud of what you have done and I am forever grateful to you.

Cameron has also received other writings from families. One letter is from the mother of the woman she helped die. He has kept this letter in the house of Frame Karwa. It is a heartfelt expression of gratitude to a grieving mother, in which she wrote: "I thank the stars of my good fortune for coming to us."

"It's really about control."

Dr. McLaren explains that the central point in the process of assisting in death is to give people the opportunity and control to choose. In the case of the 344 patients, they have data on, severe pain or anxiety about it is not the main reason why they applied to die.

This is the fourth most common cause. Three major reasons are losing their prestige. These reasons include not being able to be a part of activities that make life enjoyable and deprivation of autonomy.

"It simply came to our notice then. This is especially true of patients who have been in the medical system for weeks, months, or in some cases years. It's an opportunity to regain control of the disease that is driving their lives. "

He explains: "The only thing that enables them to do this is to own the Turp address. Therefore, if the fear of the process of the end of life becomes real or it becomes a reality, then they have a chance to avoid it and make sure that they have no experience of what they are afraid of. ۔ '