Desire to hasten death

On 11 September, the Second Reading of the Assisted Dying Bill will take place in the House of Commons. If eventually passed, it will allow a terminally ill adult (prognosis less than 6 months) resident in England or Wales to be supplied with a lethal prescription to be self-administered under the supervision of ‘an attending health professional’ (doctor or nurse).

Before the prescription is issued, a High Court Judge will have to be satisfied that the person has (mental) capacity, and that the desire to hasten death is voluntary, settled and informed. The key criterion is short prognosis; the patient does not have to be ‘suffering unbearably’.

Professor Robert Twycross, Emeritus Clinical Reader in Palliative Medicine, Oxford University, is against this bill being passed. Here he tells Gary Mitchell, EBN Social Media Editor, why.

Read Professor Twycross's full editorial: http://ebn.bmj.com/content/early/2015/08/11/eb-2015-102189.full