The trial heard that at one point Mr Liddell was in such pain that he begged Dr Moor to stop the suffering. A jury took just 69 minutes to reach a not guilty verdict after an 18-day trial.

The doctor, who admitted giving the drug without setting out to kill Mr Liddell, had previously admitted helping many terminally ill patients in pain and distress to die by administering fatal doses of diamorphine.

"Tightrope" treatment

After the verdict, Dr Moor said doctors treating the dying "walked a tightrope" as they offered medicine that could have the "incidental effect" of hastening death.

The debate rages across the world. The Netherlands allows voluntary euthanasia but elsewhere in Europe it is against the law.

In the United States, self-styled "Doctor Death" Jack Kevorkian is serving a 10-25 year sentence for administering a fatal injection to his patient Thomas Youk. Mr Youk was filmed giving his permission before the dose was administered.

So who is right? If a terminally ill patient wants to die, should a doctor be free to help? Or is it a doctor's duty to preserve life and offer straightforward care?

Tell us now.

Background ¦ Vote ¦ Your reaction ¦ Have your say

Your Reaction:

Consider this: Doctors routinely "end the lives" of unborn children, who have no say in the matter. When they start ending the lives of adults who have chosen to die, there is a big fuss!
Martyn Cox, England

It is interesting to note that a large number of those who oppose euthanasia base their argument on "playing God". The great fallacy of their argument is that not everyone believes in a Greater Being.
Pui Kei Sung, UK

As a man of 75, still in moderate health, I can foresee the time when I will have to make a decision about continuing or ending my life. My life belongs to me and the people I love, not to religions that I disbelieve. No religion or state based in religious dogma has the right to decide that a person cannot end a life that is ending in great agony. If the person cannot end his/her life of agony, then he/she should have the right to help from medical science.
R. Freesinger, USA

Doctors should be allowed to end suffering, but the practise should be heavily regulated. The opinion of several doctors should be consulted and a consensus that nothing more can be done must be reached. Then, the patient must express a wish to die in front of witnesses. The ultimate decision should rest with the patient. It is unjust to keep alive someone who is suffering, when he/she wants to die.
R Attri, UK

Since when was it down to the government to decide whether we have the right to take our own lives? These terminally ill people are the ONLY people who know what it's like and have the insight whether or not to end their suffering. So what can doctors do? They can either prolong the suffering in the belief that a cure will come. But will it? After years of testing, these people may already be dead! Or to end the sufferer's pain. Just think, if you are in that situation, do you want to be alive in endless pain? If there is no immediate cure, there is no guarantee of one coming soon. I think Dr Moor was doing his job and that should be the end of it.
Jason, UK

No, otherwise you open the door to monsters like Jack Kevorkian who aren't there so much to help people but to exercise their mass murdering desire to kill which they then call euthanasia.
Russ, USA

I would say yes, because there are so many people who are terminally ill and just don't see any way out. They have tried every medicine, treatment you can imagine and they just know their illness won't be cured. Most of these people have terrible pains and at that point, who has the right to say that they have to suffer any longer? And what about the close friends and relatives, should they be witnesses of someone who is slowly dying?
Monique Tijtel, The Netherlands

I believe that one principle of the Hippocratic oath is "do no harm". But isn't keeping a patient alive beyond hope and in spite of pain a form of harm?
Phil V, USA

The answer is an emphatic YES!! If people are uncomfortable with the idea of doctors doing it, then we should train professional "euthanasians" to do the job. I find it ridiculous that doctors have to be bound by this primitive rule that they must "save" lives, whatever the circumstances. The human body was never designed to live so long anyway and which is why we now have to contend with so many geriatric diseases unheard of in the past. Not allowing people to die has also partly contributed to the terrible over-population of the world. I'm an atheist, but to people who say that doctors should not play God, then I say they should not even be saving lives then!!
Siow Tian Rui, Singapore

If someone close to me was struck down with a terminally ill and painful disease, I would welcome a doctor helping them to die. It is heartbreaking for families to see their loved ones in agony and if they ask for help to die it is the only humane thing to do for everyone involved.
Helen, Canada

My Grandfather at this moment in time is 76 and dying slowly from cancer, if i could end the years of suffering he has had I would, he no longer wants to be in this pain, so why can't the people who are suffering not end their lives if they so wish.
Deborah Binns, UK

When my sister was dying of cancer in 1992 we didn't ask the doctor how much painkiller he was giving her, but in the last hours of her life she was unconscious from either the dosage of pain killer or from the cancer. Hopefully out of pain. The doctor made her last hours shorter possibly, but in less pain definitely.
Dick, Netherlands

If the patient wishes to die and the doctor feels he/she is able to assist them then where's the harm? Obviously there need to be checks to ensure this is not abused but it should be possible to allow extremely ill patients to die with dignity.
Lucy, Malaysia

Mercy Killing is simply that. It has been practised for centuries and should be allowed to continue providing of course that the parameters are all very clear and humane. We all feel the same way about terminal illness with endless pain and suffering. Let the medical world provide cures for everything including Aids, Cancer and Alzheimer's etc. before openly condemning any further mercy killings by members of their profession.
Neil Ashurst, Ghana

It is very difficult to know at what point it is humane to put down an animal and therefore even harder to know about a person. I believe that it should be between the doctor and the patient as it was earlier in this century before "political correctness" got in the way of sanity.
Miranda, Australia

An early release from life for many people can save them the indignity of dying in the way you do from such terminal diseases.
Greg Pye, UK

It is ungodly and unethical for doctors to kill. Their main objective is to save lives and not destroy them. Only witches, hangmen and murderers kill. How can a doctor be a killer, when they have been trained to save lives? Why should we allow them to kill yet they have been trained to save lives. If we want killers, lets establish training schools for them. It is contrary to their profession to kill.
Nicholas Bangajena, Zimbabwe

Doctors should not administer euthanasia. Only our Lord God is supposed to take our lives and not fellow human beings. No matter how a patient suffers, Doctors should also be patient and wait for death to come by itself.
Martha James, Tanzania

In answer to the question, NO. Doctors are not God and no doctor should "help" terminally ill patients to die. They should be able to give pain-relieving drugs, but that is as far as it goes. In my book any doctor intentionally giving a patient an over dose is effectively committing murder. If a patient wants to end it all, set up a system to enable the patient to administer the pain killer them selves, if they choose to take "too much" then it is up to them.
Paul, England

My Nana died in February 1999 from cancer. She was given painkillers that made her more at rest until she died. I miss her terribly but am comforted by the fact that I know that she died the way that she wanted to.
Nicola Ames, UK

God gives life, and God should take life. Man's job should be to preserve life. When it comes to killing people, why put Doctor in such a unfair position. It is not fair to the Doctor and to the profession.
Sulhi Gencyuz, USA

Yes, of course doctors should be allowed to ease suffering and assist people to die with dignity and without pain. But it must be more open, both to safeguard vulnerable individuals and allow the process to be done properly. It is common practice to 'allow people to die' by increasing morphine, but it is also common to accelerate the process by denying food and water, the distress of which is masked by the morphine! This is only done because the law does not allow it to be done properly.
Trevor Jones, Norway

If someone is suffering from a terminal illness and pain of a level that is unbearable, then, the humane thing, is, for them to have the right to die. However, I wouldn't like to see a situation where 20-40 year old professionals make quality of life decisions for 70 year olds.
Tom, Australia

I feel that in extreme circumstances (only) it should be possible for doctors to give doses of strong drugs to relieve pain, as in this case, where the patient may die eventually as a result. However, I am not in favour of "putting down" very sick patients, like sick animals. The law should be interpreted in a liberal way, but not to extremes. (I am a social science teacher.)
Carol Wain, England

If patient and doctor are in agreement that the patient wishes to die, and to be helped to do so by the doctor, then it is nothing to do with anyone else. If we have a right to live, then we have right to die.
Justin Philpott, UK

To "assist" in suicide is not suicide. It is murder, regardless of the circumstances. The whole idea is open to abuses from those in the medical profession.
M. Brockman, USA

Having seen several people die from cancer, one of them a friend of only 38, I only hope that I do not have to suffer like he did for the last few weeks of his life. I would like to die with dignity and it should be my decision.
George Bond, UK

Yes, doctors should be allowed to provide euthanasia for terminally ill patients. The question is how to ensure that it is at the explicit request of the patient and not family, who may have vested interest, or the doctor, who may lack judgement. I don't pretend to have the answer, but a panel of qualified people together with clear guidelines on conditions etc, would go a long way. We should look into our "souls" as to why this is a taboo.
Roy Maher, Canada

It is to be ensured that this is not misused for murdering people for anything say property or politics etc. The doctors must ensure that the patient has no scope of life.
Sutap Chakraborty, India

I don't agree with Euthanasia. At any stage of disease there is every chance of patient being recovered. It becomes an act of killing if you go for Euthanasia.
Waseem, India

I would say definitely yes, doctors could help patients to die, having seen numerous deadly ill people who really wanted to suffer no more. However, to avoid lawsuits and confusion, it should be legalised provided three independent people or groups have verified that this is what the patient wants.
Katrina Rosati, USA

If we are aware that life has no price, why end the life of people because we feel that they are a terminally ill patient. I think the main purpose of medicine is to save lives instead of ending them. If we allow euthanasia, I guess in the future medicine could move backwards by neglecting to fight some diseases when they reach some level of pain.
Mamadou Bobo Sylla, Guinea Conakry

After seeing terminally ill patients treated with less dignity than a dog when it comes to dying, it appals me when doctors will not give sufficient pain relief to these patients because they don't want them to become addicted to the morphine. This is a totally ridiculous attitude to take. What difference does it make, these people are dying? Would it not be better to let them have a dignified death and a comfortable one? We treat animals better than we treat ourselves. It's time it changed. If a person is terminally ill and suffering and they wished to be released from their agony by wanting to end their life then so be it. It is so cruel to prolong suffering because the life in question is human.
Cathy, Australia

I am very worried over juries in this country returning bad verdicts. He admitted that giving a large dose of pain killer could kill the patient - that's murder or manslaughter.
Graham Haggar, England

If you do not tend to someone they may die. How do you define 'to tend'? Where does compassion end and rationalism begin? What about the economic issues? This whole question is open to diverse and conflicting interpretations - we are not certain and we do not agree on many of these interpretations. No, doctors should not 'speed' the terminally ill on thir way.
Maurice, UK

My mother had a brain scan last September at the age of 83 and this revealed a large brain tumour for which there was no treatment. After that scan and knowing the results, she expressed her desire to leave this world and would have happily received an injection to die. Finally on January 8 she passed away having suffered a rapid deterioration resulting in everything having to be done for her. My sister and I still grieve at our loss but the decline from October to her death was certainly not what she, or we, wanted.
Peter Hocken, England

I would not trust any doctor to treat me who was prepared to kill me if he thought it appropriate and I suggest most sick patients would feel the same.
Dr Jeremy Cox, England

When the pain of living is greater than the fear of imminent death, some patients do not have the strength or the knowledge of how to end their own suffering. This is the appropriate time for physicians to finish his/her responsibility to the patient.
D, USA

In the Netherlands, what began as an experiment in assisting terminally ill patients to die has ended up as a scandal in which a Parliamentary investigation revealed that fully fifty percent of patients were killed without their consent. If we want to have a proper legal mechanism for a patient to request euthanasia, that would be fine, but leaving it to the judgement of individual doctors is asking for trouble.
Jon Livesey, USA

We don't let animals suffer. What's the difference? I have seen two people die with cancer. I could have helped them if I only knew how.
P Tucker, UK

Why should we expect anyone to have to kill as part of their job? This would place a huge mental strain on any doctor, knowing that he could be expected to kill, especially if, as is the case with many GP's and long-term patients, it could be a friend they are expected to kill.
Ian Hopgood, UK

Preserving quality of life is almost as important as preserving life itself - there is a time to admit when your time has come. Better to go swiftly and gently into the night than to lie in bed in immobile pain for years waiting for the inevitable.
Mike Knell, Ireland

My mother died of cancer in 1992. I believe the issue is quality of life and deciding when it has deteriorated so much that death becomes a relief for both patient and family. We don't allow animals to suffer yet are more than prepeared to allow a human being a slow and painful death to avoid the ' No one has the right to play God' issue.
Kirsty Barber, England

Medicine can not always save lives, but it should be allowed to help the dying.
John Clifford, UK

While there is life there is hope. Doctors are pledged to support life. If every time someone felt pain they were killed then medicine would get no-where, once fatal diseases are now easily cured because every effort was made to save them. The dying should not be so selfish - this suicide has no meaning.
Alex G, UK

What kind of sadistic minds want to prolong a person's life so they suffer in pain and agony in a stale, lifeless hospital room? Doesn't that amount to torture?
D. Soleil, Canada

I think to legalise voluntary euthanasia is more likely to open a huge can of worms than to make any positive difference to methods of palliative care. The force of the argument that the Netherlands has managed to implement is lost on closer examination. They have a "concordant" which basically allows toleration of euthanasia under certain conditions. But research has shown that many doctors still prefer to keep their actions in such cases "under the counter" with few of these deaths actually recorded. The law in Britain already allows protection for doctors who wish to administer lethal doses of painkilling drugs, as long as their primary purpose is to relieve pain, and has done since 1957. I am sure many doctors would appreciate the relaxation of the law in this area but in my opinion the price would be too high.
Janine Alexander, England

I have had MS for twenty years. It has been in remission for many of those years. However if I am unable to have the ability to end my own life if the pain is too much, I hope that someone can legally do it for me with my prestated signed agreement.
Malcolm Kidby, England

Maybe the people who are so opposed to helping people die have not had first hand experience of a loved one who is in so much pain that the dignified way for them to leave this earth is by getting a HELPING hand. I know that I would prefer to go out with some dignity when my time comes.
Mike Seago, England

Some societies are more "mature" than others and in these countries (like Britain) there can be legalised euthanasia without the fear that the practice will be abused. Other societies, like the US, may not yet be ready for it.
Louis Massano, USA

My father was in a hospice for his last days and without any questioning or discussion the morphine level was increased as it was the most humane thing to do. There was no reason to let someone suffer anymore
Sally Greig, UK

Juries usually show far more sense than judges or politicians. They did well to acquit Dr Moor; public money should not have been wasted on a pointless prosecution.
P Fluck, Canada

Background ¦ Vote ¦ Your reaction ¦ Have your

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