To the readers of this edition of my blog, and in addition to some more friends – it is special because I try to suggest a wider discussion about what I had written last time. If you did not see it, you can call it up here:
At the time of my 91th birthday
First, I would like roughly to report about the reactions I got, and then I will explain why I hope for a – not easy – further discussion.
My blog has only about 30 registered subscribers, but I send information about every new issue to a varying number of friends. About 40 people acknowledged, without any comment, to have received my last blog. In addition, about 25 persons sent also various greetings related to my 91st birthday. Only three referred to the real theme of my last blog: thinking about life and death. Awareness of old age, where our life may come to an end. Nobody referred to the special cases of Professor Walter Jens and Professor Hans Kueng, whose bodies stayed longer healthy than their brains.
But this is the question I am facing, and I am not alone with it. Modern medical care has extended the years where the body can stay healthy. I had quoted the following: “In the USA, the average life expectancy is now 75 years for males, and 82 years for females; 100 years ago, the numbers were much lower: 58 for males and 61 for females.” The relationship between the increase in life expectancy, and the increase in the number of people whose brain is no longer functioning as before is surprising. Is modern medical care promoting dementia? Probably not – but we have not come up with responses how to react to this gap.
For those affected, it is not just dealing with some medical terms, when the daily life cannot continue as before. Two stories I read recently describe this reality:
– A person still actively employed in London, felt tired and confused, accidentally boarded the wrong train going home. At the end, she found herself alone on a dark platform. “When I eventually stepped off the train I was completely lost and confused. The train driver took one look at me, and realized something was wrong. He looked worried and concerned, and asked why I wasn’t getting any treatment. His last words to me were: You deserve to be listened to. Do not leave the doctor’s office until they agree to help you.”
– But there may be no help, as another person describes it: “Her mother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s decease two years ago, was losing the ability to take care of herself. So her family had to make the decision to move her into Assisted Living.
In my blog I have also described how Professor Walter Jens and Professor Hans Kueng lived towards, and then with dementia.
Recently the Khmer Times reported about a meeting of the President of the Cambodian Senate with some members of the Senate about a variety of economic problems. “The in-depth discussion also included improving care services for senior citizens through the deployment of online and new technology, as well as other services such as water supply, electricity, transport, and human capital development.”
Even if this will happen in future, a far distance still remains from having staff and facilities for Assisted Living for individuals with dementia. Such institutions are being developed in some countries for people with cognitive impairments, who may need help with dignity for all processes of life, including eating and toilet facilities.
Hans Kueng described his meetings with Walter Jens, which show clearly that Assisted Living was not a solution he considered necessary for the increasing number of persons with dementia.
During a press interview he was asked: “Was the dementia hard on Jens, or just on his relatives and friends?” At the beginning of his illness, he always said ‘terrible’ or ‘bad.’ At the same time, he became appreciative of small things, like a child, of animals and sweets. Kueng used to bring him chocolate. At first, he would eat it by himself, but later on, it had to be put into his mouth. “It is not possible to know what Jens experienced at the end. But I can’t be expected to accept being in a condition like that.”
So Kueng was asked: “As a Christian, are you allowed to put an end to your own life?” Kueng: “I feel that life is a gift from God. But God has made me responsible for this gift. The same applies to the last phase of life: dying. The God of the Bible is a god of compassion and not a cruel despot, who wants to see people spend as much time as possible in a hell of their own pain. In other words, assisted suicide can be the ultimate, final form of helping in life.” – “What I do want to achieve is, that the issue is discussed openly and amiably. But, today, assisted suicide takes place in a gray zone because it’s banned in many countries. Many doctors increase the morphine dose when the time is right, and risk of being convicted of a crime. There are some patients who, when they cannot find such doctors, jump out of hospital windows. That’s intolerable! We need legal regulations.”
Maybe if “such doctors” could have been around, the following “murder” case in Germany would not have happened.
Since March 2025, a court trial is going on in Aachen: A 44-year-old male nurse has been accused of murdering nine patients and attempting to murder 34 others. Prosecutors claim that the nurse injected his seriously sick patients with lethal doses of painkillers or sedatives.
But so far it is treated only as a murder case.
In Germany, there is a public discussion going on about Medically Assisted Death, since the Federal Constitutional Court in 2020 ruled that individuals have the right to a self-determined death, overturning a previous law that criminalized assisted suicide. Since then, assisted suicide has been exempt from punishment, provided the person makes the decision freely and responsibly. But the practical implementation remains highly restricted and controversial. Therefore the parliament is to work on two different drafts:
– one would criminalize assisted suicide with exceptions for cases where strict medical and psychological evaluations are conducted,
– the other seeks to enshrine the right to self-determined death without criminal penalties.
Germany is not the only country struggling towards legal clarifications. Some nations have legalized it under strict conditions, while others continue to prohibit it entirely. I found some information related to Medically Assisted Death – deeply complex, considering ethical, legal, dignity, autonomy, and emotional dimensions – from the following countries:
Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States.
Cambodia is not on this list.
With Professor Kueng, I agree that we also need legal regulations. But in order to achieve this, we need first a difficult public discussion, to start carefully and responsibly.
To this, I invite the readers of this text, and their friends and colleagues.
You can write to me, and I will report back here after some time, or you can leave some words at the end of this blog where it says “Make a Comment”.
=
But in any case, I dare to say it again: if you are interested in my writings, I would be happy if you subscribe to my blog with you e-mail address at the “Subscribe” invitation at the upper right corner of the first page of the blog. It may help to develop mutual communication.
Norbert Klein – nhklein@gmx.net