Published 4 August 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b3132
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b3132

Letters

Assisted suicide

Clinicians need clarification

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

A terminally ill patient confides in you his wish to pursue a path of assisted suicide.1 He asks you for information and support so that he can approach Dignitas and ultimately decide how and when he wishes to die. What would your response be? By providing a forum for discussion and supporting a patient’s decision would a doctor be assisting suicide or helping the patient to make an informed choice?

Neither the BMA nor the General Medical Council offers any guidance on how a doctor should respond to a request for information about assisted suicide abroad. In contrast, I was clearly advised by the Medical Protection Society that "UK medical practitioners should refuse any involvement in the case of a patient wishing to discuss assisted dying, including the provision of medical reports or records that a patient might submit to Dignitas." In addition, providing such information could be construed as . . . [Full text of this article]

Sally E Hall, foundation doctor1

1 Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust

sallyehall@doctors.org.uk


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