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Doctors abroad are allowing people with eating disorders to end their lives, a shocking report claims.
The study found that at least 60 people with eating disorders such as anorexia had taken their own lives in the past ten years in countries that allow assisted dying.
The researchers said this included parts of the United States, although assisted dying is only permitted there after a diagnosis of a terminal illness.
The warnings come amid a growing push for assisted dying to be legalised in this country after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he would give the House of Commons time to debate the issue.
Earlier this year he said he was “personally committed” to change and told campaigner Dame Esther Rantzen, who has terminal lung cancer, that he would allow MPs to vote freely.
Shocking report claims doctors in the US, Belgium and the Netherlands are allowing people with eating disorders to end their lives (file image)
The warnings come amid a growing push for assisted dying to be legalised in this country after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told campaigner Dame Esther Rantzen (seen right, in 2020) – who has terminal lung cancer – that he would allow MPs a free vote on the matter.
Labour Lord Falconer has put forward his own proposals restricting the right to die to people who are terminally ill and have six months or less to live, and campaign group Dignity In Dying said Lord Falconer’s proposals say “safety is woven into” his bill.
Labour’s Lord Leader of the House, Lord Falconer, has already revealed his own detailed proposals restricting the right to die to people who are terminally ill and have six months or less to live.
But last night, eating disorders expert Chelsea Roff, lead author of the Assisted Dying in Eating Disorders report, expressed fears that the new law could be abused.
She told the MoS: ‘Our study identified at least 60 cases where doctors helped patients with eating disorders end their lives using lethal drugs, including cases in the US.
‘These findings should set off alarm bells among MPs as this law could put some of the most vulnerable groups in our society at risk – people with disabilities, eating disorders and other mental illnesses.’
Their report found at least three cases in the United States, 22 in Belgium and more than 30 in the Netherlands in which an eating disorder was the primary reason for a request for assisted dying.
However, campaign group Dignity In Dying said Lord Falconer’s proposals would prevent that.
Chief executive Sarah Wootton said: “Safety is woven into this Bill, introducing practical measures to assess eligibility, ensure rigorous medical oversight and monitor every part of the process.”
For confidential assistance, call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit samaritans.org