Medical ethics is indeed an interesting subject! DD is just finishing a stint in intensive care as part of her training. She has an issue with other doctors wanting her to accept their patients into ICU when they are going to die anyway. Basically transferring responsibility to the ICU staff rather than dealing with it themselves and taking up an ICU bed, which are in short supply, potentially denying it to someone who with the right care might survive. As she said, working in ICU is very stressful, dealing with death on a daily basis, often of young people and frequently doing your best to keep someone alive but failing can sap your energy and resilience. But fighting for the right of someone to die with dignity, not sedated with a tube down their throat and a machine keeping them alive is just the worst experience. We really need to think more about giving someone a good death rather than extending their life unnecessarily and if this bill helps some terminally ill people, then I'm all for it.
