Britain: Doctor backs law change to help terminally ill die

Description:

One of the UK's leading doctors is calling for a change in the law to allow those who are terminally ill to get medical help in the UK if they want to end their life. Ann McPherson, the co-author of the best-selling Diary of a Teenage Health Freak and medical director of an award-winning website of patient experiences, is herself dying of pancreatic cancer. McPherson, who was a GP in Oxford for 40 years, says that those who are terminally ill should be able to turn to their doctor for help in dying in the manner and place of their choosing….

McPherson leafed through a large bundle of supportive emails she has had from doctors, many of them eminent, since writing about her views in the British Medical Journal recently. She does not believe the BMA's position, voted through at its annual general meeting, is representative. "I think if you are going to do that you ought to do the whole membership of the BMA," she said.

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Source:

Boseley, Sarah. "Doctor backs law change to help terminally ill die". Guardian. Friday 1 January 2010 18.06 GMT. <www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/jan/01/doctor-mcpherson-law-terminally-die>. Guardian, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9GU.

Tags:

Tags (or keywords) briefly indicate some major topics of the report.

  • assisted suicide

  • terminally ill

  • British Medical Association

  • Britain

ID:

The EuthaNEWSia ID for this advisory is: enid201001045455.
Mailed: Monday, January 4, 2010 14:18:22 -0600
at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Etcetera:

EuthaNEWSia is a free Canadian news advisory service covering end-of-life issues such as right to die, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. EuthaNEWSia is produced by the Right to Die Society of Canada which works toward a good death for all, including open, regulated and equitable access to euthanasia and assisted suicide. The editor is Michael Dawson <editor@euthanewsia.ca>. 

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