BMJ  2005;331:841 (8 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7520.841

Letter

Time to legalise assisted dying?

RCGP is not neutral: it opposes a change in legislation

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Delamothe states that the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has a neutral stance on the issue of assisted dying.1 This is no longer correct.

At a meeting of the college council in June 2005 it was decided, by a clear majority, that the college could no longer maintain a neutral stance on the subject of assisted dying. To determine a definitive position on whether to oppose any future legislative change the college sought further views from its faculties and membership. After careful consideration of the views received and further debate at a meeting of its council on 16 September 2005 the college issued the following position statement:

"The RCGP believes that with current improvements in palliative care, good clinical care can be provided within existing legislation and that patients can die with dignity. A change in legislation is not needed."

I also issued the following statement: "This . . . [Full text of this article]

Mayur K Lakhani, chairman

Royal College of General Practitioners, London SW7 1PU mlakhani@rcgp.org.uk


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Relevant Article

A time to die
Tony Delamothe
BMJ 2005 331: 0. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Kitching, M., Stevens, A. J., Forman, L. (2008). Views regarding physician-assisted suicide: a study of medical professionals at various points in their training. Clin Ethics 3: 27-33 [Abstract] [Full text]  
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