Media Release 16 January 2025
On behalf of our community, Right to Life questions why the Medical Council of New Zealand, who are responsible for protecting our community by registering medical practitioners, allows the appalling scandal of having a small group of doctors being permitted to kill eligible patients under the guise that this is legal health care?
Why does the Medical Council not uphold the ethics of the medical profession, by having these misguided, dangerous doctors brought before the Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal, with the object of removing them from the registry of registered medical practitioners? The medical profession should not be involved with the killing of patients which violates the fifth commandment of God, “Thou shalt not kill”
Doctors are paid handsomely by Health New Zealand for killing eligible patients with a lethal injection or assisting in their suicide!
The NZ parliament empowered doctors to kill eligible patients with the introduction of the End of Life Choice Act 2019 on 7 November 2021, 1 year after the 2020 Referendum on this issue.
On 17 December 2024, Health New Zealand, in response to an Official Information Act request of Right to Life dated 22 May 2023, advised us:-
The number of “assisted deaths” performed by each of the 10 medical practitioners who performed the highest number of “assisted deaths during the period 7th November 2021 to 31st March 2023?
The total fees paid for providing “assisted deaths” to each of the 10 medical practitioners with the highest number of ”assisted deaths” during the period 7th November 2021 to 31st March 2023?
The figures are provisional. The payments made include payments for supporting applicants who started the process but did not proceed to being killed.
Assisted Deaths and payment data 7th Nov 2021 to 31st Mar 2023.
Practitioner No Total ADs Module Payment
1 21 $ 104,594
2 16 $ 81,892
3 13 $ 74,956
4 14 $ 72,570
5 15 $ 72.057
6 7 $ 68,683
7 16 $ 67,745
8 9 $ 65,620
9 12 $ 62,754
10 12 $ 59,893
Total 135 $ 730,764
The government generously rewards doctors who are prepared to kill eligible patients, with the permission of parliament provided by the End of Life Choice Act 2019. The fees paid for each patient euthanised or given assisted suicide are set at about $3,000. In addition a generous travelling allowance of $120 per hour may be paid to a doctor or nurse practitioner who may be required to travel to provide this so-called “health service”. It is noted that the travelling allowance is apparently a major item in the remuneration received by the twelve doctors listed above.
Health NZ maintains the Support and Consultation for End of Life in New Zealand (SCENZ) Group as a statutory group established under the End of Life Choice Act 2019. The group of doctors and nurse practitioners are prepared to provide assisted killing. As at June 2024 comprised 134 medical practitioners and 13 nurse practitioners.
There are more than 10,000 registered medical practitioners in New Zealand. Right to Life commends the vast majority of doctors who faithfully care for their patients and are faithful to the commitment in the Declaration of Geneva which they make, not to kill patients and the ethics of the World Medical Association which prohibits euthanasia.
Ken Orr,
Spokesperson,
Right to Life New Zealand Inc.