Do it properly or not at all
BMJ 2010; 340 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.c1719 (Published 01 April 2010) Cite this as: BMJ 2010;340:c1719
All rapid responses
Rapid responses are electronic comments to the editor. They enable our users to debate issues raised in articles published on bmj.com. A rapid response is first posted online. If you need the URL (web address) of an individual response, simply click on the response headline and copy the URL from the browser window. A proportion of responses will, after editing, be published online and in the print journal as letters, which are indexed in PubMed. Rapid responses are not indexed in PubMed and they are not journal articles. The BMJ reserves the right to remove responses which are being wilfully misrepresented as published articles or when it is brought to our attention that a response spreads misinformation.
From March 2022, the word limit for rapid responses will be 600 words not including references and author details. We will no longer post responses that exceed this limit.
The word limit for letters selected from posted responses remains 300 words.
Professor Seale advocates as one possibility setting up a properly
regulated system in England and Wales administered by `experts`. Where
this expertise might have been acquired is not immediately clear. In
countries where it is legal or tolerated assisters have access to the
necessary liquid barbiturates ( typically pentobarbital ) which are not
legally available here even to doctors. Opioids are difficult for
patients to self-administer in sufficient quantity, are not always
effective and may take many hours to end life. As reported in a detailed
and practical article in last month`s Journal of Medical Ethics oxygen
deprivation with helium was successfully used by Dignitas in case in
future the usual barbiturates should not be immediately available to
foreigners ( if a residency requirement were to be imposed by the Swiss
authorities ). Doctors are not directly involved in either method apart
from the writing of a barbiturate prescription. Otherwise it seems only
vets might have expertise capable of being adapted to humans?
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Assisted Suicide
Suicide, whether assisted or not is a serious human trajedy. Mental
health professionals spend a major part of their professional lives
assessing risk of suicide, and putting all the resources and safeguards in
place to prevent its happening. It is counter intuitive to think that the
doctor in the next ward is actually doing the exact opposite to what you
are doing, and being paid by the same hospital. It is'nt true to say that
the patient profile is different. Old age psychiatry is preventing and
treating suicidal risks as well. Doctors should not be involved in this
assist at all. State executioners, or vets, as a previous respondent
commented, have more experience of procuring " dignified death " than
anyone else, but such professionals would never contemplate the killing of
an innocent person. Palliation, symptom control, support and such like,
are urgently needed, and not the optics of state legislated and sanitized
death, whether dignified or not.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests