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One of the risks related to the legalisation of euthanasia and assisted suicide is that prognosis aren’t always correct. While modern medicine is able to relieve pain, it isn’t always possible to predict the exact course of an illness or the outcome of an accident.

We’ve recently learned of a man who survived a serious motorcycle accident, and spent several weeks in a coma afterwards. His physicians were saying there was little hope, and according to the article, recommended she remove life support. However his wife refused to do this and brought him back to the family home to care for him. A few months later, he woke up. His rehabilitation continues, but he is progressively getting better.

Of course, unplugging a patient from life-sustaining machines constitutes refusal of treatment and has nothing to do with euthanasia or assisted suicide. It is perfectly legal to refuse treatment, and we do not oppose this. However this story is a good example of erroneous prognosis.

It is not possible to know if the prognosis is exact, until time has passed. If an individual decides to access euthanasia after receiving a disastrous prognosis, and the prognosis wasn’t correct, the person will die before their time.

This constitutes a great risk if assisted suicide or euthanasia becomes legal.