"Furore as patients are deprived of food - claim" "Julia Quenzler, a spokeswoman for SOS-NHS Patients in Danger, claimed the group has evidence that dozens of patients with years of life left in them had been deliberately deprived of food and water by hospital staff in order to free up NHS resources," the Catholic Times reported on 3 Aug 03, following a claim in a Dutch medical journal that families and friends of cancer patients who died by euthanasia experienced fewer symptoms of grief and post traumatic stress. "British Medical Association guidelines say doctors may authorise withdrawal of nutrition and hydration by tube for stroke victims and the confused elderly, even when they are not terminally ill." Mrs. Quenzler, who claims her mother was a victim of death by dehydration, said the study was 'meaningless' as it ignored the relatives and friends of the thousands of Dutch and British people who had been 'helped to die' without their knowledge or agreement.' She added, 'They are the ones that suffer. These are the people the study should be concentrating on. They are the ones who are damaged and harmed for many years and will never be able to come to terns with the idea that their loved ones had been killed, because the system is stacked against them in getting to the truth or punishing doctors who kill....... "This is going on everywhere. I know of hundreds of cases." Many have been reported in national newspapers.
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