The Peaceful Pill Handbook

The Peaceful Pill Handbook is the leading self-help text that enables adults of sound mind to undertake informed planning around their end of life choices. Written in lay language, The Peaceful Pill Handbook covers an extensive range of need-to-know issues including useful drugs such as the barbiturates, drug administration, testing and shelf life, poisons and other substances including the lethal inorganic salts, the use of gases such as nitrogen, argon and helium, devices such as the carbon monoxide generator and the 'Korean method' and, of course, Swiss services such as Pegasos. All strategies are rated according to their Peacefulness, Reliability and, where appropriate, Accessibility.

The Peaceful Pill Handbook Essentials is a practical guide to a peaceful and reliable DIY death. Based on the best-selling Peaceful Pill eHandbook Essentials, the Peaceful Pill Handbook is sold exclusively by Exit International and ships globally from the Netherlands.

Killing Me Softly is a radical and compelling examination of the current euthanasia debate. Frustrated by continuing controversy and political inaction in this area, prominent activists Philip Nitschke and Fiona Stewart present a powerful argument in favour of our right to die as we choose. Their concerns include the way in which the medical profession has assumed 'ownership' of death, and the fact that existing laws restrict our end-of-life choices. They offer a future where a 'Peaceful Pill' could revolutionise euthanasia just as the contraceptive pill transformed birth control a generation ago. This book is recommended reading, not just for those who already believe we have the right to choose a dignified death but also for anyone still to be persuaded . . .

“A remarkably nuanced, empathetic, and well-crafted work of journalism, [The Inevitable] explores what might be called the right-to-die underground, a world of people who wonder why a medical system that can do so much to try to extend their lives can do so little to help them end those lives in a peaceful and painless way.”—Brooke Jarvis, The New Yorker More states and countries are passing right-to-die laws that allow the sick and suffering to end their lives at pre-planned moments, with the help of physicians. But even where these laws exist, they leave many people behind. The Inevitable moves beyond margins of the law to the people who are meticulously planning their final hours—far from medical offices, legislative chambers, hospital ethics committees, and polite conversation. It also shines a light on the people who help them: loved ones and, sometimes, clandestine groups on the Internet that together form the “euthanasia underground.” Katie Engelhart, a veteran journalist, focuses on six people representing different aspects of the right to die debate. Two are doctors: a California physician who runs a boutique assisted death clinic and has written more lethal prescriptions than anyone else in the U.S.; an Australian named Philip Nitschke who lost his medical license for teaching people how to end their lives painlessly and peacefully at “DIY Death” workshops. The other four chapters belong to people who said they wanted to die because they were suffering unbearably—of old age, chronic illness, dementia, and mental anguish—and saw suicide as their only option. Spanning North America, Europe, and Australia, The Inevitable offers a deeply reported and fearless look at a morally tangled subject. It introduces readers to ordinary people who are fighting to find dignity and authenticity in the final hours of their lives.

First published in the US in 1991 by the Hemlock Society, it discusses the practicalities of suicide and assisted suicide for those terminally ill, and is intended to inform mature adults suffering from a terminal illness. It also gives guidance to those who may support the option of suicide under those circumstances. The Australian edition was prepared by Dr Helga Kuhse. The author is a US journalist who has written or co-authored books on civil liberties, racial integration and euthanasia and is a past president of the World Federation of Right to Die societies. Sales of the book are category one restricted: not available to persons under 18.

This is the revealing, personal story of the man behind the controversial pro - euthanasia movement, told in his own words. Medical doctor, humanist, author and founder/director of Exit International, Philip Nitschke's life has always been in the spotlight. The book spans Philip's early days, from his curious, activist student days in Adelaide, to working with Aboriginal land rights groups in Australia's Far North; to his successful campaign to have euthanasia legalised in Australia and his assistance in four people ending their lives before the law was overturned. It covers the controversy surrounding Philip's work, including the banning in Australia of his international bestselling book The Peaceful Pill, and disturbing reports that many young people overdosed on Nembutal, the drug that Exit International recommends for suicide. Ultimately, Philip believes that the right to one's own death is as fundamental as the right to control one's own life: 'It seems we demand humans to live with indignity, pain and anguish whereas we are kinder to our pets when their suffering becomes too much.'