When blood and shrapnel in London’s bus blast hit the British Medical Association building, my colleagues ran out to help.
We were rightly proud and a shaken nation was comforted. Yet the week before, a strange and different message was sent to the nation from the BMA debate on euthanasia. People were confused by a narrowly passed vote suggesting doctors have gone neutral on euthanasia and would just ‘let Parliament decide’.
This was an illogical message that smelled of skulduggery. In a poorly-attended meeting, a narrow vote of 93 against 82 proclaimed a drastic change in policy for 133,000 doctors. These doctors had been given no chance to vote on the issue. And the message came despite delegates agreeing a motion: ‘A majority of doctors are opposed to physician assisted suicide’. But the organisers then pushed through the ‘neutral’ position — which hit the headlines.
