New doctors’ group challenges medical bodies’ opposition to assisted dying

UK doctors have set up a new group for health professionals to challenge the BMA and a number of royal colleges in their stance against assisted dying for terminally ill people and to push for a change in the law.

The group, called Dignity in Dying: Healthcare Professionals for Change, was set up by Ann McPherson, who is dying of pancreatic cancer, after an article she wrote in the BMJ last year generated interest in giving people who are dying the option of help to end their lives when they chose (BMJ 2009;339:b2827 doi:10.1136/bmj.b2827).

Dr McPherson, who is a fellow of …