UK doctors are cautious about ‘ending lives’

A study involving 857 doctors has revealed that UK doctors are very much more cautious about helping terminally ill patients to die than their colleagues in Europe, and when they do help, most doctors only do so if the patient would be expected to live for less than seven days. UK doctors are also more likely than European doctors to discuss the various options surrounding the decision with the patient and their relatives and other medical colleagues. Euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide, by which patients are provided with the means to kill themselves, are illegal but extremely rare in the UK, but have been legalised in countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland.