GP takes Attorney-General to court over VAD telehealth ban
Dr Nick Carr wants the Federal Court of Australia to declare VAD is not suicide
A GP is taking the Federal Government to court over laws that ban doctors from discussing voluntary assisted dying in telehealth consultations.
Since 2005, federal laws have banned ‘using a carriage service to counsel or incite suicide’, including phone calls, text messages, emails and video.
The punishment is a fine of up to $220,000.
When Victoria became the first state to legalise voluntary assisted dying (VAD) in 2017, the state’s Minister for Health warned GPs to only discuss VAD face to face because of the federal laws.
