Law has a protective function for both patients and doctors

BMJ 1996;313:227-228 (27 July)

Letters

Law has a protective function for both patients and doctors

EDITOR,--"Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy"; sowrote F Scott Fitzgerald. Jack Kevorkian is a fanatic, not ahero.¹

There are some practical reasons why the killing of a patient,even when problems seem insurmountable, must remain prohibitedin law. The law has a protective function. It protects the vulnerablefrom misinformation due to mistakes by or the ignorance of theinformer, from pressure by those with malintent, from economicallydriven judgments on their future, and from much more. It alsoprotects us, as doctors, from ourselves: our ignorance or arrogance,any temptation to cover up medical mistakes, our difficultyin asking for help from a colleague, overinvolvement with apatient that colours our judgment, our fatigue, or personalprejudice or bias about clinical or social conditions. It protectsus from undue pressure by relatives weary of caring or who standto gain financially. Managers . . . [Full text of this article]