Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying, 3rd Edition |  | Author: Derek Humphry
Publisher: Delta
Category: Book
List Price: $17.00
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Rating:  74 reviews
Sales Rank: 27,202
Media: Paperback
Edition: 3
Pages: 250
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.6
ISBN: 0385336535
Dewey Decimal Number: 362.28
EAN: 9780385336536
ASIN: 0385336535
Publication Date: November 26, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Just published for 2002-3 is the revised, 3rd edition of the bestseller "Final Exit". It described they ways in which a dying person may consider hastening the end of their life if suffering is unbearable. Laws and ethics are outlined in a straightforward fashion. Drug dosage tables and the latest inert gas technique of 'self-deliverance' are explained, with illustrations.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 74
 Readers need to remember one thing: April 17, 2001
Betti Trapp
207 out of 221 found this review helpful
This is not a book telling you to commit suicide. So many people felt lives would not have been lost without this book. This is wrong. A suicidal person will always find a way. This is a book that is intended to help the terminally ill who need an easy passing. Try to imagine yourself, suffering, in unbearable agony, your own suffering making all of your loved ones hearts break a little daily, no end in sight, just the knowledge that if you sleep at all, when you wake, the agony will continue, not just for you but for everyone. Often, too often, doctors will limit and provide dosages of pain relief that are inadequate, because there are times when the pain is untouchable by modern drugs. Ask yourself: Will your loved ones suffer more after your death than they are now? THAT, dear readers, is what this book means. It offers a glimmer of light for the terminally ill. That is all. It does not in any way intend itself for depressed people, but depressed people will buy it, and read it, and perhaps follow it to the end. They suffer too, their pain is as real as the physical pain of a terminally ill patient, do not expect the book ever to be banned to depressed or mentally ill patients only. I respect any terminally ill patient's decision to use the guidelines in this book to assist in an end that will allow them to finally erase the agony, the physical torture, the lives wreaked with havoc and pain because of their illnesses. Those of you who do not understand Derek Humphrey's motive should read this book again. Those of you who do not understand your relative or loved one's decision to act on the guidelines in this book need to make peace with yourselves, and put the blame where it really belongs, nowhere.
A Book that Respects People's Choices About Dying April 24, 2004
Stephen Pletko (London, Ontario, Canada)
90 out of 94 found this review helpful
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After I read this book (first edition published in 1991) by Derek Humphry, I read some reviews of it on this site as well as on other sites. In many cases, I wondered whether a particular reviewer read the same book as I did! There seems to be some confusion as to the purpose of this book.
I think the confusion stems from a lack of understanding of two terms. "Suicide" is deliberately ending one's life. It is usually an irrational act. (For the record, I don't believe in irrational suicide.) "Self-Deliverance" is the action of an irreversible ill person (such as a person who is hopelessly ill or is terminally ill) who makes a rational, voluntary decision to end his/her own life.
The second of these two definitions is what this book is about. In the author's own words: "Please respect the true intensions of [this book]: the right of a terminally ill person with unbearable suffering to know how to choose to die."
Thus, this book is not for the depressed, mentally ill, or suicidal. The author elaborates: "I ask people with suicidal thoughts to share them with family or friends and if this does not help, to call one of the hot lines or help lines listed in their local telephone books."
There is an argument that the above three types of people might use the information in this book for their own early demise (despite the book's warnings) and therefore it should not have been published. But this is like saying tall buildings (or cars or bridges or etc.) should not be built because those with the intension of suicide might use them for an early demise. The fact is a suicidal person will always find a way.
Also, this book is not for the religious. The author, again, elaborates: "If the reader of this book is deeply religious, and takes all guidance from a divinity, then there is no point in reading [this book]. [As well], all I [the author] ask of persons to whom any form of euthanasia [or assisted dying] is morally repugnant is tolerance and understanding of the feelings of others who want the right to choose what happens to their [dying] bodies in a free society." Thus, "this book assumes the reader's ethical acceptance of the right to choose to die when terminally ill and [so] the arguments for and against are not addressed."
This 27-chapter book covers all the practicalities involved in self-deliverance. From the importance of certain documents, to the law, to consideration of others, to the pros and cons of various methods (including certain drugs), you'll find this book a compassionate and sensitive guide. It contains clear instructions for supportive doctors and families so they can keep a person's dying intimate, private, and dignified.
This book has four appendices. I think most people will find Appendix A: "Glossary of Terms Connected with Dying" most informative.
Finally, this is an excellent book for those (like me) who are interested in knowing more about this neglected subject. The obvious fact is that we all die sooner or later. Knowing some of the information in this book will help the reader understand and not deny that death exists. As well, I learned about rights. Some people want to endure every last minute of life no matter how painfully gloomy and that is certainly their right. (In fact, there is a chapter in this book entitled "The Hospice Option.") However, others do not want to endure pain and suffering and I think that should be their right.
In conclusion, this book should not to be read by the depressed, suicidal, mentally ill, or the strictly religious. For all other readers, it can be used as a practical guide or as an educational text to understand death and basic human rights.
+++++
Useful book for the terminally ill person and their family May 9, 1999
85 out of 91 found this review helpful
Persons ethically opposed to this book need not, and should not read it. For almost ten years, Final Exit has been the accepted handbook for self-deliverance and assisted suicide for the dying person whose suffering is unbearable to them. Useful chapters on the law, communicating with others, and precise 'how to' end it details. There is no such other book available on the open market. Thousands of people have made good use of it to make their own decisions.
Final Exit - Your choice September 26, 2005
K. Tini (Douglassville, PA United States)
28 out of 28 found this review helpful
I found this book to be incredibly informative. Watching my parents in the throes of death has made me vow to not do this to my children. Any ideas I had prior to reading this book were dispelled and I'm grateful to know what doesn't work! The book is not for the weak at heart - especially the illustrations but I've already connected with a partner and hope, that when the time comes, I'll have the fortitude to carry through.
Final Exit is THE textbook for euthanasia November 19, 1995
34 out of 36 found this review helpful
Final Exit has come to be the best book for those who wish
to escape terminal suffering either by self-deliverance or
assisted suicide. It was a bestseller in l991 and continues
to sell worldwide in solid quantities. This book does not
deal with the moral and ethical aspects - they should be
read elsewhere - but with the 'nuts and bolts' of a person
choosing to end their life because of unbearable
physical pain and distress.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 74
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