The abuse of "Do Not Resuscite Orders" in the UK

A letter to the editor - Hits the Nail on the Head when the writer challenges concept that assisted suicide will be "safe" in the UK when stories abound concerning the inappropriate use of "Do not Resuscitate" orders

The following letter was published in The Telegraph in response to an article concerning a report that outlined medical abuse of seniors in the UK.

Sir - In an age when we hear endless calls for a “right to die”, you reveal that in many hospitals the obligation to die is being imposed on elderly patients without their knowledge, and without the consent of their relatives, by doctors writing “do not resuscitate” in their notes (report, October 16).

Let us beware campaigns for “assisted suicide”, sugar-coated with reassurances that no one would dream of imposing it on vulnerable patients, backed up by pledges of “strict safeguards”.

Ann Farmer
Woodford Green, Essex

This letter reminds me of the hollow call by the Quebec College of Physicians and Surgeons stating that we need to legalize euthanasia because it is happening already. The fact is, that if it is happening already it is because physicians are abusing the proper use of medical techniques.

We don't legalize killing because of abuse, we make sure that killing is not legalized in order to prevent the ultimate abuse.