Assisted Dying Bill threatens doctor-patient relationship
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Legalising assisted dying could have a ‘profound and detrimental’ effect on the doctor-patient relationship, the BMA told peers ahead of a debate.
The association reiterated its opposition to proposals to legalise assisted dying in a briefing to Lords prior to their discussion on the Assisted Dying Bill last week.
The Bill, originally proposed by former Chancellor Lord Falconer of Thoroton, would legalise the right to a medically assisted death for adults with six months or less to live.
In its briefing, the BMA maintains that improvements in palliative care enable terminally ill patients to die with dignity, and that a law on assisted dying could result in vulnerable patients feeling compelled to consider ending their lives.
‘The principal purpose of medicine is to improve patients’ quality of life, not foreshorten it.
‘The BMA’s view is that the unique relationship between doctors and patients risks being undermined, and trust lost, if doctors were permitted to play a role in end...
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