A renowned doctor has been criticised for claiming that cancer is “the best way to die” – and that we should stop “wasting” billions of dollars trying to find a cure.
Richard Smith, 62, is a celebrated doctor and a former editor of the prestigious British Medical Journal.
He said death from cancer was preferable to longer, slower deaths from conditions such as dementia or more sudden deaths as it allowed patients to reflect on their lives and say goodbye to loved ones.
In a blog published in The BMJ, Dr Smith wrote:
“…Death from cancer is the best… You can say goodbye, reflect on your life, leave last messages, perhaps visit special places for a last time, listen to favourite pieces of music, read loved poems, and prepare, according to your beliefs, to meet your maker or enjoy eternal oblivion. This is, I recognise, a romantic view of dying, but it is achievable with love, morphine, and whisky.”
Dr Smith argued that losing a loved one to cancer was less traumatic than sudden deaths and urged cancer patients to “stay away from overambitious oncologists”.
However, his comments have been criticised by many, including the charity Cancer Research.
Cancer Research UK’s chief clinician Professor Peter Johnson said:
“Of course we are all going to die, but cancer takes far too many people far too young. It’s only by being ambitious in our research that we can give people a measure of choice, and the more we know about cancer the more we can give people options.”
Is this crazy or compassionate? What do you think?
Top Comments
Having had cancer myself, I can assure you that it is not the best way to die&it has never been a good way to die, it is painful, it is soul destroying, it is mind wrecking&can change the way you perceive everything you've ever lived foe&believed in!
This is such a disgusting statement for anyone to make. Cancer is a soul destroying disease that takes important people away from their families before they have really lived. My sister in law died in 2014 from ovarian cancer at 34yrs of age - way too young to go, and each day is a struggle for my husband and his remaining sister. Cancer is a very traumatic way for a person to die, and is even worse for family members to watch the gradual decline of their loved one. What a dope for publishing his crappy opinion!!