British law on right-to-die faces legal challenge
Patient Safety Monitor Alert
June 9, 2005
A British man has sued to keep himself on food and water as his body deteriorates, even if physicians and others believe his quality of life is poor, according to a Chicago Tribune article.Leslie Burke has objected to a guidelines of the British General Medical Council, which allows doctors to terminate a life even over the patient's objections if the doctor feels that continued efforts would become more of a burden than simply allowing the patient to die.
Burke has won the initial legal round in trial court, but the case has been appealed. In the appeal, the council argued that the broad ruling in the lower court could lead to patients demanding treatments not recommended by physicians.
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