Doctors asked for ‘death pills’

Press, 11 May 1984, Page 8

Doctors asked for ‘death pills’

PA Auckland Some Aucklanders, fearful of impending nuclear war, have asked their doctors if they will be able to get “death pills.” The reaction from doctors, the Auckland Hospital Board, and the Minister of Health, Mr Malcolm, has been against them. An Auckland general practitioner, Dr Graham Gulbransen — a member of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War — said he had had two inquiries and he knew of other doctors who had had similar experiences. People wanted to know “if all else fails, can we get death pills?” he said. The requests were a sign of the feelings of hopelessness about the nuclear threat, but Dr Gulbransen said to his mind, death pills were “not on.” The Auckland Hospital Board’s chief executive, Mr

Les Corkery, said a policy on such pills was not the responsibility of hospital boards. Decisions were up to the community and the Government. Besides the obvious problems of distribution, storage and control of use, deathpills would be an admission of defeat in the face of the nuclear issue, he said. In a letter responding to questions from the Eastern Suburbs’ Peace Group, the Minister of Health, Mr Malcolm, said, “I agree with you that the idea of stockpiling ‘death pills’ for survivors of a nuclear holocaust is horrendous.” Mr Malcolm said it was his rtesponsibility to preserve health and the quality of life, not to aid its extinction. A group member, Mr Owen Bracey, said, “The group’s certainly against death-pills ... we see it as an admission that nuclear war is inevitable.”