A wealthy British couple who both had terminal cancer have committed suicide together at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.
Peter and Penny Duff, from Bath, are the first Britons to die at the controversial clinic since the Lord Chief Justice signalled that anyone helping a terminally ill person to organise an assisted suicide abroad would not be prosecuted.
Their death comes as doctors are to be told by the medical regulator to give terminally ill patients a greater say over how and when they die.
In a fundamental shift, draft guidance from the General Medical Council (GMC), seen by The Times, warns that doctors could be struck off if they refuse to withhold potentially life-prolonging treatment.
It advises doctors to give consideration to patientsโ wishes if they wish for life support to be withheld or do not want to be resuscitated in the event of organ failure. Where a patientโs wishes are explicit, acting against them โshould be deemed to be causing harmโ. It adds: โSerious or persistent failure to follow this guidance will put your registration at risk.โ





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