{"id":204,"date":"2009-11-04T16:12:40","date_gmt":"2009-11-04T15:12:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/?p=204"},"modified":"2009-11-04T16:12:40","modified_gmt":"2009-11-04T15:12:40","slug":"when-the-witch-asks-a-question-i-cant-resist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2009\/11\/04\/when-the-witch-asks-a-question-i-cant-resist\/","title":{"rendered":"When the Witch Asks a Question, I Can’t Resist"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the replies to this thread<\/a>, The Witch Doctor asks this:<\/p>\n

A Scenario:<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want to be around when the world ends, so I\u2019m 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 \u201cdignified exit\u201d anticipating the end of the world.<\/p>\n

I will also carry an AD in case I become unconscious before arriving at A and E.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Should the medical staff allow me to die when the time comes and if not, why not?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s a good question – though I’d rephrase it slightly to “if so, why; and if not, why not?” at the end.<\/p>\n

I’m curious to know what the readership here thinks.\u00a0 Since I’ve posted my reply in the old thread, I’ll keep out of it as much as possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019t want to be around when the world ends, so I\u2019m going to drink some poison […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1081,479,472],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-consultation","category-navel-gazing","category-thinking-aloud"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen the Witch Asks a Question, I Can't Resist - Journal of Medical Ethics blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2009\/11\/04\/when-the-witch-asks-a-question-i-cant-resist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When the Witch Asks a Question, I Can't Resist - Journal of Medical Ethics blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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\u2019t want to be around when the world ends, so I\u2019m going to drink some poison [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2009\/11\/04\/when-the-witch-asks-a-question-i-cant-resist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Journal of Medical Ethics blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-11-04T15:12:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"BMJ\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"BMJ\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2009\\\/11\\\/04\\\/when-the-witch-asks-a-question-i-cant-resist\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2009\\\/11\\\/04\\\/when-the-witch-asks-a-question-i-cant-resist\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"BMJ\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe\"},\"headline\":\"When the Witch Asks a Question, I Can’t Resist\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-11-04T15:12:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2009\\\/11\\\/04\\\/when-the-witch-asks-a-question-i-cant-resist\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":232,\"commentCount\":13,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Consultation\",\"Navel-gazing\",\"Thinking Aloud\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2009\\\/11\\\/04\\\/when-the-witch-asks-a-question-i-cant-resist\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2009\\\/11\\\/04\\\/when-the-witch-asks-a-question-i-cant-resist\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2009\\\/11\\\/04\\\/when-the-witch-asks-a-question-i-cant-resist\\\/\",\"name\":\"When the Witch Asks a Question, I Can't Resist - 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