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PRESS RELEASE - 27th April 2006

A STEP TOO FAR

Dr. Richard Lamerton, who trained at the first Hospice, said today (27 April):

'Lord Joffe's Bill would split the medical profession if it ever became law.

'The Joffe Bill's supporters have tried to push the General Medical .Council and the British Medical. Association into a position where they would accept the idea of killing patients if Parliament gave them the nod. If that happened, there are many doctors who would say "This is a step too far".

'We would then publish statements saying that patients have a choice. "There is the medical doctor, who might kill you,
and often does. And there is the new profession (Apothecaries?) who have reverence for life and will care for you, not kill you.

"Suicidal people can go to the medical profession. Others come to us."

'Such a profession would immediately demand recognition by the NHS, would reject the jurisdiction of the General Medical Council, and would set up its own ethical watchdogs and professional association. They would look down on the medical doctors.'

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