Help to die

SIR – In arguing that assisted dying should be seen in the context of the “right to choose”, Dr A P Lake (Letters, October 7) makes a fundamental error.

Anyone with capacity can decline treatment, even if this will lead to death, and a court can permit the withdrawal or refusal of such treatment for anyone lacking capacity if it is in their best interests – but only after consideration of the evidence.

To suggest that removing treatment has equivalence with taking medical action to cause a patient to die is misconceived. It is also a worrying notion for doctors, given that they are likely to be given the task of carrying out euthanasia if it is ever made lawful. John O’donnell Bowness-on-windermere, Cumbria