Third of doctors act to shorten lives of dying

Around a third of [UK] doctors say they have given drugs to terminally ill patients or withdrawn treatment, knowing or intending that it would shorten their life, research reveals. A study of doctors in charge of the last hours of almost 3,000 people finds decisions almost always have to be made on whether to give drugs to relieve pain that could shorten life and whether to continue resuscitation and artificial feeding. In 211 cases (7.4%), doctors say they gave drugs or stopped treatment to speed the patient's death. In 825 cases (28.9%), doctors made a decision on treatment that they knew would probably or certainly hasten death. One in 10 patients asked their doctor to help them die faster. Guardian