A Minneapolis nurse is being investigated for allegedly using Internet chat rooms to encourage depressed people to kill themselves.
Investigators believe the nurse offered specific instructions on how to commit suicide in at least two deaths, but there is a snag in prosecuting this case, or any similar case. Rita Marker of the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide notes that a person has a First Amendment right to free speech, but the nurse's professional position is to be considered.
"It wouldn't have been considered free speech if she was acting as a nurse, but she would have really, really stepped over the boundaries," suggests Marker. "So while I'd like to give you a quick and easy answer about this and say it's cut and dried, it really isn't."
Rita Marker (International Tasf Force on Euthanasia and Assited Suicide)Whether legal action will be taken or not, the Minnesota Board of Nursing has revoked the nurse's license. Marker agrees with the reaction of the Board.
"I think that's very, very appropriate because, as a nurse, that would have been totally a non-nursy thing to do," she states, suggesting that "there are certain people who, by virtue of their professions, have certain professional requirements -- and so their profession can and certainly should revoke their licenses in cases like that."
Legal experts agree that prosecuting the case would be difficult because of freedom of speech. However, the Minnesota Board of Nursing said the nurse, 47-year-old William Melchert-Dinkel, did tell at least one person that his job made him an expert on the best ways to commit suicide.
Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: October 23, 2009
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