Friday, 29 March, 2024
HomeTalking PointsNew ‘right to end life’ debate rages in Britain

New ‘right to end life’ debate rages in Britain

Terminally ill patients should be provided with the professional equivalent of midwives to help ease the pain and suffering and if necessary shorten the end of their lives, said Prof John Ashton, president of the [b]UK’s Faculty of Public Health[/b]. [s]The Guardian[/s] reports that he demanded a change in the law so that doctors caring for people who are dying can end their suffering by giving a lethal dose of drugs to those who want it without the risk of prosecution. Although speaking in his personal capacity, Ashton is the most senior doctor yet to publicly back patients’ right to die and his remarks ignited a new row over doctors’ role in end of life care.

One of the [b]UK’s[/b] most influential medical journals agrees that doctors should be allowed to help terminally ill patients to die. But, says a [s]Daily Mail[/s] report, the [b]BMJ’s[/b] call for assisted suicide to be legalised provoked immediate alarm and anger in the profession. In an editorial, the publication – formerly the [b]British Medical Journal[/b] – says the terminally ill must be allowed to ‘call time on their lives’ when it is in their best interests.

However, the [b]British Medical Association, Royal College of Physicians[/b] and [b]Royal College of GPs[/b] all oppose assisted suicide and polls show most doctors share the same view.

[link url=http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jul/01/let-doctors-help-terminally-ill-patients-die]Full report in The Guardian[/link]
[link url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2678619/Doctors-fears-leading-medical-journal-backs-assisted-suicide-Editorial-says-terminally-ill-allowed-call-time-lives.html]Full Daily Mail report[/link]
[link url=http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g4349]BMJ editorial[/link]

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