Lords publish report on Assisted Dying Bill The Committee has completed the inquiry. The Report [HL Paper 86] and was published on 4th April. The Committee examined the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill. The Committee heard from more than 140 witnesses in the UK, The Netherlands, the US State of Oregon and Switzerland. It received 60 submissions of written evidence from organisations and more than 14,000 letters and e-mails from individuals.
Assisted dying – a summary of the BMA’s position July 2006 At the BMA’s annual conference in Belfast on 29 June 2006, doctors voted by an overwhelming majority against legalising physician assisted suicide and euthanasia. The current policy is therefore that the BMA: (i) believes that the ongoing improvement in palliative care allows patients to die with dignity; (ii) insists that physician-assisted suicide should not be made legal in the UK; (iii) insists that voluntary euthanasia should not be made legal in the UK; (iv) insists that non-voluntary euthanasia should not be made legal in the UK; and, (v) insists that if euthanasia were legalised, there should be a clear demarcation between those doctors who would be involved in it and those who would not.
The book strives for as complete and dispassionate a description of the situation as possible and covers in detail: the substantive law applicable to euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, withholding and withdrawing treatment, use of pain relief in potentially lethal doses, terminal sedation, and termination of life without a request (in particular in the case of newborn babies); the process of legal development that has led to the current state of the law; the system of legal control and its operation in practice; and, the results of empirical research concerning actual medical practice.
A joint statement from the British Medical Association, the Resuscitation Council (UK) and the Royal College of Nursing Health professionals are aware that decisions about attempting cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) raise very sensitive and potentially distressing issues for patients and people emotionally close to them. Some health professionals do not find it easy to discuss CPR with their patients, but this must not prevent discussion, either to inform patients of a decision or involve patients in the decision-making process, where appropriate. These guidelines identify the key ethical and legal issues that should inform all CPR decisions. These basic principles are the same for all patients, in all settings, but differences in clinical and personal circumstances make it essential that all CPR decisions are made on an individual basis. The guidelines provide a framework to support decisions relating to CPR and communicating them effectively.
A woman with multiple sclerosis has begun a High Court challenge to clarify the law on assisted suicide. Debbie Purdy, 45, from Bradford, is considering travelling to Switzerland - where assisted suicide is legal - to end her life. But she fears her husband, Omar Puente, could be prosecuted for going with her when he got back to the UK.
Hannah Jones has refused the heart transplant that could save her life. But is a 13-year-old too young to make that decision? Or is she the only person who can?
The NHS drugs watchdog has loosened the terms of approval for expensive treatments that extend life in patients with a short life expectancy. Drugs that would normally be ruled out of use on the NHS because they did not represent a cost effective use of resources are now more likely to be made available.