Research raises end of life questions

The statistic includes cases of voluntary euthanasia, where the doctor helped a patient to die at his or her request, and “ending life without an explicit request from the patient”, which is also called non-voluntary euthanasia. The study is the first of its kind in the UK

Deborah Annetts, chief executive of Dignity in Dying, which replaces the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, said: “This research proves that some doctors break the law and deliberately help patients die. This is all done in secret and denied in public. Some of these doctors are acting compassionately on their patients’ wishes, but some clearly act without consent. This cannot be safe.

“We desperately need to put the patient at the centre of these decisions and to make sure doctors are acting within proper safeguards to protect the patient and themselves.”