It is encouraging to find a stand being taken against assisted suicide, something clearly repugnant to the majority of GPs and elegantly discussed in the article by Ilora Finlay.1
Over a long life in general practice I have never found it impossible to find pain relief for patients either administered by myself or the practice nurse, or in one of our excellent hospices. Moreover, it always seemed to me that we did our best and if sometimes death was hastened by our drugs, that is surely a common feature of medical practice, possibly more common these days with so many potent and interacting drugs with some unfortunate side effects.
The urge for euthanasia is surely utilitarian. It saves time for doctors and relatives, and avoids the experience of failure when we can't cure. It may be that GP training needs to concentrate more on the value of life, and even the mysterious value of suffering. I well remember a patient with severe pain from gastric cancer, who refused all pain relief, as he wanted to ‘be brave’. He was an agnostic and I doubt if he understood the value a Christian attaches to suffering, But he was an example to all who cared for him.
- © British Journal of General Practice, 2005.