Carry out test in assisted dying, says top doctor

THE UK should “carry out the experiment” of assisted dying to see if it will be abused, a leading neurosurgeon has said.

Dr Henry Marsh told a debate that the way to allay concerns about the risks of assisted dying was by legalising the practice and “carrying out an experiment”.

“Where assisted dying is legal, it seems that abuse is pretty unlikely and unusual,” he told an Intelligence Squared event last week.

“[I] feel very strongly that the only way to answer these questions is by legalising it in this country and then carrying out an experiment.”

Dr Marsh argued that “all medical progress is based on experimentation” and said it was “very unlikely” that the legalisation of assisted dying would lead to great abuse.

He asked: “How can we assess the risks without legalising it, carefully collecting the data, reviewing what happens and then adjusting the safeguards accordingly?”

His comments came after the Assisted Dying Bill passed unopposed to committee stage in the House of Lords last month.

However, the Private Members’ Bill, tabled by Baroness Meacher, is not expected to become law because of parliamentary time constraints and opposition from ministers.

Boris Johnson is thought to be opposed to a change in the law, and apparently came to his decision after reviewing detailed arguments setting out the pros and cons earlier this year.

Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, is also understood to be against the move.

The Meacher reforms would let terminally ill and mentally competent adults in the final six months of their lives die at a time and place of their choosing.

All requests would be sub

‘Where assisted dying is legal, [abuse] seems pretty unlikely and unusual’

ject to approval from two independent doctors and a High Court judge, with the person granted a prescription for medication they would take themselves.

In April this year Dr Marsh announced that he had been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer and appealed for a change to the law.

The British Medical Association dropped its opposition to assisted dying and adopted a neutral stance on the issue earlier this year.

Under the Suicide Act 1961, it is illegal to assist the death of another person.