Dying Badly – New Zealand Stories, compiled by retired intensive care specialist Dr Jack Havill and writer David Barber, contains relatives’ stories of bad deaths suffered by their loved ones, as submitted to the New Zealand Parliament’s inquiry into the issue of assisted dying for the terminally ill.

It illustrates the need for a compassionate change in the criminal law to allow medical assistance to die for those who choose to end their suffering safely and peacefully in a loving environment without risking a jail term for relatives and friends with them at the time.