Surgeon’s assisted dying review call

Slow death fills me with dread, he says

HEALTH: A retired neurosurgeon with advanced prostate cancer has backed calls from a cross-party group of more than 50 MPs and peers for the Government to instigate a review of assisted-dying laws.

Dr Henry Marsh said people in his situation should be able to “choose how, when and where they would die” and it would “greatly reduce their suffering”.

A RETIRED neurosurgeon with advanced prostate cancer has backed calls from a cross-party group of more than 50 MPs and peers for the Government to instigate a review of the UK’s assisted-dying laws.

Dr Henry Marsh, who is also an author, said he believed that if people in his situation were able to “choose how, when and where they would die” this would “greatly reduce their suffering”.

His comments come alongside a joint letter from parliamentarians to Justice Secretary Robert Buckland, which argued the UK was “falling behind the rest of the world”.

The letter, co-ordinated by Humanists UK and campaign group My Death, My Decision, claimed that “our laws on assisted dying are letting down our citizens”.

The letter comes after paralysed former builder Paul Lamb lost a bid to challenge the law on the issue.

Mr Lamb, who previously lost a right-to-die case in the Supreme Court in 2014, had asked the Court of Appeal to allow a fresh challenge of the law on assisted dying to go ahead after being refused permission by the High Court in December 2019.

Lawyers for Mr Lamb argued the current law, which bans assisted suicide under threat of up to 14 years’ imprisonment, is discriminatory and breaches his human rights.

But the bid was rejected by a Court of Appeal judge in May 2020. The joint letter says that Mr Lamb’s loss meant there was likely to be “no further litigation” and the matter was “firmly one for Parliament to resolve”.

It added: “It has now been half a decade since Parliament examined legislation on assisted dying and 15 years since it formally scrutinised the issue via Lord Joffe’s Select Committee.”

The joint letter goes on: “In these years, the evidence has materially changed and there is new evidence that necessitates a fresh review.”

The letter, signed by members of the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats, SNP, Green Party and crossbenchers, claimed there had been “a significant shift in professional medical opinion and within the disability community”.

It claimed that the organisations Parkinson’s UK, the Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Motor Neurone Disease Association “have adopted neutral stances on this important issue”.

The letter also said Canada, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and parts of the United States and Australia “have changed or are due to change their law since 2015”.

It went on: “Several other nations, including Ireland, are actively considering similar proposals.”

Dr Marsh, 71 and retired from the NHS, said: “Having spent a lifetime operating on people with cancer, the prospect of dying slowly from it myself fills me with dread.

“Despite the best efforts of palliative medicine, I know dying from cancer can still be a very horrible business, for patient and family, despite what the opponents of assisted dying claim.”

He said being able to choose how, when and where we die would greatly reduce the suffering.

It has been half a decade since Parliament examined legislation. The joint letter sent to Justice Secretary Robert Buckland yesterday.