The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) is to remain opposed to any change in the law on assisted dying, it has been revealed today following one of the most comprehensive consultations of its members. More than 1,700 members responded to the consultation, which was open from 22 May 2013 until 9 October 2013. College members responded either as individuals, or through one of the RCGP Devolved Councils, one of the RCGP Faculties (local branches), or via a College committee or group. The consultation was conducted through a range of methods, including debates at local meetings, online polls and individual correspondence. Today’s Council debate on the issue ended with a resolution to “maintain the College’s position of opposition to a change in the law on assisted dying”. Seventy seven per cent of RCGP members who submitted individual responses to the consultation expressed the opinion that the College should remain opposed to a change in the law to permit assisted dying. In add
While assisted suicide (AS) is strictly restricted in many countries, it is not clearly regulated by law in Switzerland. This imbalance leads to an influx of people—‘suicide tourists’—coming to Switzerland, mainly to Zurich, for the sole purpose of committing suicide. Political debate regarding ‘suicide tourism’ is taking place in many countries. Swiss medicolegal experts are confronted with these cases almost daily, which prompted our scientific investigation of the phenomenon. The present study has three aims: (1) to determine selected details about AS in the study group (age, gender and country of residence of the suicide tourists, the organisation involved, the ingested substance leading to death and any diseases that were the main reason for AS); (2) to find out the countries from which suicide tourists come and to review existing laws in the top three in order to test the hypothesis that suicide tourism leads to the amendment of existing regulations in foreign countries. ...