Abstract

Few areas of medicine are as rife with ethical questions as the end of life. Is it ever appropriate for a physician to hasten a patient’s death? Do those who are using a disproportionate amount of societal resources have a “duty to die”? Is the terminally ill patient who takes his own life acting courageously, or taking the easy way out? Who decides when “enough is enough”? In this talk, I will examine questions such as these from both analytic and practical angles, with reference to recent controversies such as Sarah Palin’s supposed “Death Panels” and the current furore over the Liverpool Care Pathway. Booking required at ajb295@cam.ac.uk