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Letters

Time to legalise assisted dying?: RCGP is not neutral: it opposes a change in legislation

BMJ 2005; 331 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.331.7520.841 (Published 06 October 2005) Cite this as: BMJ 2005;331:841
  1. Mayur K Lakhani, chairman (mlakhani{at}rcgp.org.uk)
  1. Royal College of General Practitioners, London SW7 1PU

    EDITOR—Delamothe states that the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has a neutral stance on the issue of assisted dying.1 This is no longer correct.

    At a meeting of the college council in June 2005 it was decided, by a clear majority, that the college could no longer maintain a neutral stance on the subject of assisted dying. To determine a definitive position on whether to oppose any future legislative change the college sought further views from its faculties and membership. After careful consideration of the views received and further debate at a meeting of its council on 16 September 2005 the college issued the following position statement:


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    “The RCGP believes that with current improvements in palliative care, good clinical care can be provided within existing legislation and that patients can die with dignity. A change in legislation is not needed.”

    I also issued the following statement: “This is an important and clear decision by the council of the RCGP. The RCGP is the largest medical royal college with over 23 000 members. Great care and attention has been taken over this debate, which has now been considered by council twice. The college does not support a change in legislation.”2

    Footnotes

    • Conflict of interests None declared

    References