BRITISH COURT RULES DOCTORS CAN KILL PATIENTS WHO CAN'T SPEAK UP FOR THEMSELVES

BBC:

The General Medical Council has won its appeal against a ruling which gave a seriously-ill patient the right to stop doctors withdrawing food and drink. Leslie Burke, 45, who has a degenerative brain condition, fears artificial nutrition could be stopped against his wishes when he cannot talk. ... Mr Burke, from Lancaster, had won a landmark ruling, supporting his right to artificial nutrition and hydration. But the GMC appealed, saying doctors could be put in an impossible position. ... In the original case, Mr Burke argued the GMC's advice, which gives doctors in cases such as his the ultimate say on what treatment to give a patient in the final stages, was an infringement of his human rights. ... But during the appeal hearing, Philip Havers, QC, representing the GMC, said the original ruling had fundamentally altered the nature of doctor/patient relationships and was not in the best interests of the patient. He said doctors would have to provide treatment which they knew would be of no benefit or could even be harmful. ...

Dr Vivienne Nathanson, the British Medical Association's head of ethics and science, which supported the GMC case, said decisions about curtailing treatment were "one of the hardest choices" to make. ... But Joyce Robins, co-director of human rights campaign group Patient Concern, which helped argue Mr Burke should have the right to food and water, said the decision was "a huge step backwards for patients". And Liz Sayce, of the Disability Rights Commission, said she was still concerned that the wishes of all patients might not be respected. "The judgement is fine for people who have the capacity to speak. But the difficulty is when you don't have that capacity, it will be back to the doctor taking the decision entirely themselves."

Healthcare in Great britain is SOCIALIZED. The National Health Service could save money by refusing to feed and hydrate a patient - AND - the national pensions system would save money too. That's a BASIC CONFLICT OF INTEREST that cuts against patient's rights, and bodes badly for Britain. If you were terminally ill would you WANT to be treated there, under their rtules!? NO. NO ONE WOULD. No one sane. So that rules out the Left, who're happy to left that state make all their decisions for them.