In the replies to this thread, The Witch Doctor asks this:

A Scenario:

Apparently there are some sites on the web just now claiming that the world is going to end in 2012. Some teenagers are becoming agitated.

I don’t want to be around when the world ends, so I’m going to drink some poison and present to my local A and E department on Halloween 2011. If conscious I will refuse treatment but ask to be kept pain free and as comfortable as possible while I make a “dignified exit” anticipating the end of the world.

I will also carry an AD in case I become unconscious before arriving at A and E.

If conscious, I will be assumed to be competent until proven otherwise. I will pass the competency test. I do not have a mental health problem. I have just been spending too much time surfing the web.

Should the medical staff allow me to die when the time comes and if not, why not?

It’s a good question - though I’d rephrase it slightly to “if so, why; and if not, why not?” at the end.

I’m curious to know what the readership here thinks.  Since I’ve posted my reply in the old thread, I’ll keep out of it as much as possible.

The Institute of Medical Ethics is currently revising the Core Curriculum in Medical Ethics and Law. This is arguably the only document laying out in any kind of detail what medical students in the UK should learn about ethics in medical school, and is therefore not unimportant!

A consultation on the revision in now open (until 31.07.09) and the draft Core Curriculum and consultation document can be found at: http://www.instituteofmedicalethics.org/edu_consult.php

So, provide your comments now to the IME or forever be silent (or at least be silent until the next revision).

I thought this call for input would be of interest to some of our readers.

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is holding a public consultation on the ethical issues raised by online healthcare, telemedicine and commercial medical profiling technologies such as DNA testing and body imaging. These technologies and services are increasingly focused on the individual, and often mean that the GP is no longer involved in healthcare.

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