The doctor who blew the whistle on abuses carried out under the notorious Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) has warned Catholics that new guidance from the Vatican on end-of-life care is lethally flawed.
The Rev. Dr Patrick Pullicino, a former hospital doctor who was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Southwark after he retired from the NHS, made his remarks in a homily preached during a Mass in the Jesuit church in Valletta, the capital of Malta.
He said the Pontifical Academy of Life had effectively put forward “guidelines whereby in certain circumstances euthanasia could be acceptable”.
“Euthanasia, though, is never acceptable,” said Fr Pullicino.
“Of course we know it is never moral to stop fluids or nutrition, but hospitals have become experts at delaying fluids and nutrition particularly in the elderly,” he said.
“This is most often done when a sick elderly person is classified as ‘dying’ and they are put on morphine and sedatives as so-called end of life care.
“This is now being taken up by the WHO and EU as a way of saving money in elderly care and unfortunately it is finding its way into Malta.
“I was recently contacted by a lady in Malta who is seeking legal address for lack of feeding in the death of her husband. This is of course a covert form of euthanasia.”
He continued: “Pius XII said the doctor’s noble mission is that of healing and saving life. The medical profession must be uncompromisingly loyal to the fundamental principles of ethics and Christian morality.
“Unfortunately there is now a push for a utilitarian medicine in the EU and some doctors including in Malta are going along with this.”
“In addition the ex-labour minister Michael Farrugia wants a dialogue on euthanasia and abortion to start,” he added.
“But why do you want to start a dialogue on something that is intrinsically evil unless you want to bring it in?”
A former consultant neurologist with East Kent Hospitals University Foundation NHS Trust, in 2012 the then Prof Pullicino made a submission to the House of Lords about abuses of patients placed on the LCP, explaining how he removed one “dying” patient who went on to recover.
Continue reading at the Catholic Herald