逮捕医師への紹介状求める　ＡＬＳ女性、主治医に―嘱託殺人

　難病の筋萎縮性側索硬化症（ＡＬＳ）患者への嘱託殺人容疑で医師２人が逮捕された事件で、亡くなった林優里さん＝当時（５１）＝が事件前、主治医に山本直樹容疑者（４３）＝東京都港区＝の名前を挙げ「紹介状を書いてほしい」と依頼していたことが２９日、関係者への取材で分かった。主治医は拒否したという。
　関係者によると、林さんは約７年間、ヘルパーによる２４時間態勢のケアを受けながら過ごした。胃ろうによる栄養摂取をやめたいと主治医に申し出て拒まれ、昨年秋、山本容疑者を名指しし「紹介状を書いてほしい」と転院を希望した。しかし、病院の住所を明かさなかったため、主治医は不審に思い、紹介状は書かなかった。
　林さんが「安楽死」の望みをかなえるため、主治医を変更する意向を伝えたとみられる。（2020/07/29-05:18）

A woman with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, had asked her primary care doctor to write a letter of reference to a doctor who has been arrested for allegedly killing the patient at her own request, it was learned Wednesday.
   The then attending doctor of Yuri Hayashi declined the referral request because of skepticism about the fact that the patient did not specify the address of the hospital the doctor in question was working at, informed sources said.
   Hayashi, who had received around-the-clock care from helpers for some seven years before she died at the age of 51, requested in autumn last year that she be moved to a hospital where she can receive treatment from the arrested doctor, Naoki Yamamoto, 43, after her primary care doctor refused her request to stop feeding her through a gastrostomy tube.
   She asked for the reference letter apparently in hope of realizing her wish for euthanasia.
   Yoshikazu Okubo, 42, who has been arrested along with Yamamoto also for allegedly killing Hayashi by administrating a drug to the patient with her consent at her apartment in the western Japan city of Kyoto on Nov. 30, last year, is believed to have started exchanging messages on Twitter with the patient in December 2018 at the latest.