Final Exit (Second Edition): The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying
By:
Derek Humphry
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Lowest New Price: $4.55
List Price: $13.95
Average Customer Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Description:
Standing at the center of a heated controversy and sparking national debate, Final Exit has become a crucial handbook for people looking to end their suffering from unbearable pain due to terminal or incurable illness. This careful, concise, and compassionate manual includes:
How to commit suicide with sleeping pills, preferably with the aid of a loved one
A chart listing lethal doses of fourteen drugs
Legal considerations, life insurance, and living wills
Finding the right doctor, hospice care, and pain control
Letters to leave behind and how to write a self-deliverance checklist
Psychological support groups for the dying and suicide hotlines for depression
Plus much more invaluable advice on self-deliverance and assisted suicide
For mature adults opting to end their lives or anyone interested in this controversial and timely topic, Final Exit, the only book of its kind, provides the answers.
Publisher: Dell
Release Date: 1997-03-10
Customer Review: 1 out of 5
Final Exit? - I have just come from my grandmother's hospital bedside, and I am writing this review for her...because she asked me to.
Her suicide attempt following the instructions in this book did not have her intended outcome, even though her husband found her 13 hours after she had carried out the instructions. Her death now will be long, drawn out, and painful - not only for herself, but for her son, her daughter, and her husband who now have to make decisions for her...not to mention her grandchildren who have come to her bedside and communicated their love from overseas and across the country. They love her, and though they don't understand, they want to honor her wishes. At this point, they really have no other choice.
My grandmother did not have a terminal illness before; her excellent physical health is probably responsible for her survival. When she spoke today in her hospital bed, extremely uncomfortable and exposed, she asked me what day it was.
"Wednesday, Nana."
"I took the pills on Friday," she said. "It's not supposed to take this long."
"I know, Nana. It didn't work. I don't understand your decision, but I love you, and I am not mad. It is going to take a long time. We'll be here. We are holding your hand, and you'll never be alone, but this is going to take a while."
"Tell them...it's not supposed to take this long. This shouldn't take so long. Tell people, tell everyone not to do it this way. There has to be a better way. This shouldn't happen." This book was in her dresser drawer, along with newspaper clippings from the past few years recounting executed suicides that grieving families hailed as heroic, selfless, or otherwise good decisions. She still wants to die, but it is probably going to take months. She never wanted this.
So that's what she had to say. Here's what I'll say: I haven't worked it out in my head how I feel about suicide. I have a disabling health impairment, but I have not been in the position of a terminally ill patient, and I can't pretend to understand or pass judgment. But I understand that this book is directed at terminally ill patients, and I can say definitively that in our case it found its way into the hands of a very physically healthy person who used it for different reasons...and after all of that plodding and planning, it didn't even work.
My father has agreed at my grandmother's request to advocate for patient rights. In conjunction with a doctor, taking one's own life may have merit in some circumstances. But from this book, a very physically healthy woman gathered that the act is noble and acceptable. She was probably very sick in her head and in her heart, but not a part of the target audience.
This may be the last wish that I carry out for her. I wish it were something that I could remember fondly. It isn't. But I feel good about writing this. Please don't buy this book or follow its advice.
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Excellent advice - I have always believed that I should own my own body, even when it comes to deciding when it is time to die. As a mature adult, I should be allowed to make my own life-ending decisions. Laws in the U.S. being what they are, this can be hard to accomplish. Final Exit is a wonderful book and explains what may be difficult to understand. It also gives examples for those of us who know little about the procedure.
Customer Review: 2 out of 5
Disappointed - If you are looking for an easy way to die, this book doesn't give it to you.
Customer Review: 4 out of 5
Looks like an important addendum is not included in this, as it is in ERGO's - This has a discount, but I've read it's important to get the updated addendum info like the helium kit, which does not look like it's included here.
The ERGO site has the addendum included with the book. You can also get the addendum separately.
Customer Review: 1 out of 5
Credibility - The world will be a better place to live when the author of this book finally takes his own advice to heart.
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