Executive Director of Eat Breathe Thrive, a nonprofit serving people with eating disorders. Engaged in research & policy on risks AD laws pose to our community
London, UK
Joined March 2012
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People with eating disorders would qualify as terminally ill under this bill, as written.
For those who want a quick summary of our research, here are the key points I did not have time to cover today. 🧵👇
Just published: Our new paper on how some doctors are stretching the definition of ‘terminal illness’ to make people with treatable conditions eligible for assisted death.
tandfonline.com/eprint/QMHDM…
My piece for @LBC on the fatuity of attempting to revive the assisted death bill through the Parliament Act, even after some of its strongest supporters acknowledged that it would place people with eating disorders at risk.
Reviving the Assisted Dying bill will reopen the Anorexia loophole
✍️@ChelseaRoff for LBC Opinion
lbc.co.uk/article/assisted-d…
Chelsea Roff retweeted
The @UKHouseofLords is discussing safeguards for patients with anorexia & other eating disorders.
@Tanni_GT says that since October 2024, the bill sponsors have deflected, obfuscated & ignored evidence from @rcpsych, @ChelseaRoff et al
She cites an interview on @BBCNewsnight:
Chelsea Roff retweeted
Beautifully written and very true 👇🏻.
Learning cannot happen without accepting our limitations and maintaining curiosity.
Chelsea Roff retweeted
Today I questioned the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on palliative care following a recent report which shows that care is in crisis.
Whatever your view on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. I hope everyone agrees it should be safe. I’m concerned he couldn’t guarantee the bills safety or that people wouldn’t be compelled to take the decision to have an early death due to a lack of palliative care provision.
Chelsea Roff retweeted
This list is pretty extraordinary.
With all the new days in committee, announced today, will we see the Bill’s sponsor and proponents finally take these concerns seriously? Will they now consider, in good faith, the numerous amendments designed to improve safety?
Chelsea Roff retweeted
Delighted that our paper addressing the false dichotomy between autonomy and preservation of life in anorexia nervosa has been accepted by the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry.
We hope that it will help patients, clinicians and lawyers to navigate difficult decisions.
Chelsea Roff retweeted
Very grateful to @DrOliverLewis @ChelseaRoff and Prof Eric van Furth to contribute to the @rcpsychEDFac conference discussion on ethical and legal issues - including assisted dying that can affect people with eating disorders.
Chelsea Roff retweeted
The Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers promotes declining nutrition as a way to make death reasonably foreseeable so as to qualify someone for MAiD without any waiting period. Apparently even a settled intention to decline nutrition makes death foreseeable.
1/ How many people with eating disorders have died by assisted death under “the Oregon model”?
There has been understandable confusion about the findings of our systematic review. For now, I will leave aside the problems with the term “Oregon model.”
Here is what we know from the available evidence, with receipts.
8/ What about “severe protein calorie malnutrition”?
Since our study was published, a further 43 assisted deaths where “severe protein calorie malnutrition” was listed as the primary qualifying terminal disease have been identified: 30 in Colorado and 13 in California.
We cannot determine whether these cases were related to anorexia, VSED, or another condition from available data.
9/ TLDR: At least 60 people with eating disorders have died by assisted death worldwide.
In the US, three states have confirmed deaths of people with anorexia but not disclosed how many, and eight others could not confirm or rule out whether such deaths had occurred.
We cannot verify how many have died under “the Oregon model” because states use vague reporting categories, and two of the confirmed US deaths were reported in ways that did not identify anorexia at all.
Chelsea Roff retweeted
The public do support the principle of assisted dying. But they do not support a bill that experts from the Royal College of Psychiatrists to domestic abuse charities say is unsafe.
