What should happen to him?

[R13]

I'm definitely torn on the "right to die" movement.


LONDON ? A British doctor who admitted shortening the lives of nearly 20 patients ? including his own son ? may yet face charges, British investigators said Saturday.

Howard Martin, 75, was cleared in 2005 of murdering three patients with fatal doses of pain killer. But he has since had his license revoked and now a dramatic confession to a national newspaper has prompted police and prosecutors to consider reopening the case against him.

Martin, whose videotaped confession was carried Saturday by the Daily Telegraph newspaper, said he had no regrets, claiming he acted out of "Christian compassion" to end the suffering of pain-stricken patients.

"My conscience is clear, I don't have anything to fear," he said in an interview from his home. Describing his decision to end the life of his son, Paul, who was suffering from cancer before his death in May 1988, he said: "What more could I do for him other than make sure he had dignity?"

But Britain's General Medical Council differed, calling Martin's behavior "completely unacceptable" and saying that in some cases there was no proof the patients were suffering.

And while many of the 18 patients he injected had only days to live, at least one patient ? 74-year-old Harry Gittins ? could have recovered from esophageal cancer had Martin not administered 200 milligrams of diamorphine the day before he died.

Martin then lied to the family, telling them that Gittins' cancer had spread, the council ruled.

Martin had been charged with murdering Gittins, along with fellow patients Frank Moss, 59, and 74-year-old Stanley Weldon, whose bodies were exhumed at separate cemeteries, but he was eventually acquitted.

On Saturday Gittins' son said he hoped the case against Martin would be reopened.

A 2005 reform to the English legal system means that the principle that prevents people being tried twice for the same crime, known as "double jeopardy," no longer applies.

Defendants may be tried twice for the same crime if "new and compelling" evidence is brought to bear.

UK doctor admits he helped patients die - Yahoo! News

[Unchained]

I can see both sides of the issue. I can respect compassion and trying to help end suffering,but I can also respect the moral/religious debate as well.

[Jason]

If they asked him to end their life then fine. But if he killed them without their consent then he should pay for it.

[R13]

I tend to lean towards being for it, of course everything is with consent and with proper legal steps. I've just always thought of suicide as a selfish thing to do, but if a person is suffering/older and just care bare it...then I think it's then selfish on "our" part to make them suffer more. Ah, I see both sides of this issue, I really don't know what to make of it.