A celebrated doctor declares that cancer is the “best way to
die,” and dissuades wasting of pounds on cure.
The renowned doctor and the former editor of British Medical
Journal (BMJ), Richard Smith argues that cancer provides one with ample time to
reflect on life before it ends and urges charities and medical worlds to "stop
wasting billions trying to cure cancer."
In a blog published
in The BMJ, the doctor wrote that while most people tell him they would prefer
a sudden death, he thinks that is very hard on the families of the deceased.
"The long,
slow death from dementia may be the most awful as you are slowly erased, but
then again when death comes it may be just a light kiss," he wrote.
"Death from
organ failure - respiratory, cardiac, or kidney - will have you far too much in
hospital and in the hands of doctors.
"So death
from cancer is the best... You can say goodbye, reflect on your life, leave
last messages, perhaps visit special places for a last time, listen to
favourite pieces of music, read loved poems, and prepare, according to your
beliefs, to meet your maker or enjoy eternal oblivion.
"This is, I
recognise, a romantic view of dying, but it is achievable with love, morphine,
and whisky."
Cancer Research UK's
chief clinician however criticized him saying that "Of course we are all
going to die, but cancer takes far too many people far too young.”
"It's only by
being ambitious in our research that we can give people a measure of choice,
and the more we know about cancer the more we can give people options.
"My patients
are very clear about when they do and when they don't want treatment, and they
would much prefer me to be ambitious than nihilistic."
0 comments:
Post a Comment