“The law has come to its natural use-by date. Let us look for something that is better and different, the human rights model. Exit International’s position is that all rational adults have the right to a peaceful, elective death at the time of their choosing,...
IN 2002 Belgium legalized the murderously chilling act of euthanasia, whereby doctors and nurses kill patients with their supposed consent. Holland had formally done the same the year before. This practice, all too reminiscent of what Nazi Germany did before WWII to the mentally handicapped...
We can do more now than in the whole history of humankind to treat your symptoms. Alzheimer disease is typically not painful, but associated conditions may be painful, and pain and other symptoms ought to be treated vigorously. Clinicians and society have obligations to work...
Suicidal thoughts, much like mental health conditions, can affect anyone regardless of age, gender or background. In fact, suicide is often the result of an untreated mental health condition. Suicidal thoughts, although common, should not be considered normal and often indicate more serious issues. Each year,...
“Assisted dying” is a euphemism. It has no meaning in law but it means supplying lethal drugs to people who are terminally ill with the purpose of helping them to commit suicide. It is also contrary to every historic code of medical ethics including the Hippocratic...
There is huge pressure on British politicians to legalise assisted dying. However, doing so would represent a dangerous change in British criminal law. It would fundamentally alter the relationship between doctor and patient, giving doctors the power to kill as well as cure. Such immense responsibility...
The articles on assisted dying in The Economist are extremely helpful; even with those whom I disagree completely, I can have civilised and enlightening discussions. My opponents are, for the most part, well-motivated and willing to examine the opposition’s arguments. I agree with some of...
I’m not opposed to assisted dying because I believe that it will be extended to those who should not have it. (I think the idea that some people “deserve” access to assisted dying demands as much scrutiny as the idea of the “deserving” and the...
When I began working as a doctor early in the 1970s, end-of-life care was in its infancy. Cicely Saunders had just begun her pioneering work on what she called “total pain” and very few clinicians knew how to alleviate pain and distress in the dying....
SINCE 2002 Belgium has been one of the very few countries in the world in which doctors can perform euthanasia. Patients need to be in a hopeless state of constant and unbearable physical or mental pain that cannot be alleviated, or suffering as a result...