Doctors are set to speak out against changes to the proposed assisted dying law in England and Wales
Doctors are preparing to speak out against changes to the proposed assisted dying law that could ban doctors from discussing the procedures with patients.
The British Medical Association, which will give evidence to a committee of MPs scrutinizing Kim Leadbeater’s bill, has said doctors should be given the opportunity to raise assisted dying with patients in a sensitive way if it becomes law.
The BMA said this would be “an unacceptable breach of consultation room privacy legislation”.
The Guardian has previously reported that up to 30 MPs who supported assisted dying could withdraw their support at the next parliamentary vote. At the top of MPs’ demands for change is that the bill should not allow medical professionals to suggest assisted dying to terminally ill patients.
MPs including former minister David Davis and Labor MPs Chris Webb and Mike Tapp – who voted in favor of the bill – have asked the committee to consider the change. A source close to the committee said this would likely be one of the first amendments the committee would consider in February after it finished gathering public evidence.
MPs examining assisted dying legislation will have three full days in the last week of January to hear public evidence from health and ethics experts and explore a range of possible changes. The committee will then meet twice a week for public vetting sessions of the bill until the last week of April.
The BMA’s official position is neutral on whether assisted dying should be passed over – but the union has agreed a collective position that doctors should not be put in the position of being banned from raising it with patients.
Dr. Andrew Green, the chairman of the BMA’s medical ethics committee, which leads on assisted dying, said banning doctors from raising the option with patients would mean unprecedented legal restrictions on doctors – although he said no some doctor should be obliged to mention the procedure.
“After careful debate, we have concluded that physicians should not be required to raise the subject, but should be able to do so in a sensitive manner if they believe it is in the best interests of their patients ,” he told the Guardian. .
“Some patients find it difficult to bring up sensitive topics in their consultations, and doctors are adept at reading between the lines of what patients say and elaborating on what has been left unsaid.
“In such circumstances, a competent clinician would gently open the door to those conversations, allowing the patient to walk to a safe space where he or she could discuss what was on his or her mind. The amendment under discussion would result in putting a lock on the door for effective communication. And we believe that this would be an unacceptable breach of consultation room privacy laws.”
Green said he did not expect assisted dying would ever be recommended directly to patients and that doctors would remain bound by the code of ethics. The BMA is expected to be among the organizations called to give evidence before the committee in the last week of January.
The next debate and vote in the House of Commons is expected to take place on April 25 – and if time permits, the bill could also reach its final stages in the House of Commons that day.
If the deadline is reached, the final stage of the third reading will take place at the next meeting Friday, approximately a fortnight later. Supporters of the bill hope that its consideration in the Lords will begin before the summer.
The bill’s committee will have nine MPs who were opponents of the bill, including the most high-profile Conservative opponent, Danny Kruger, and 11 MPs who were in favor.
Health Minister Stephen Kinnock and Justice Secretary Sarah Sackman will sit on the bill committee for the next stage in Parliament. They voted in favor of the bill. Together with Leadbeater, this puts the committee in favor 14-9, a majority of 60%.