B

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (CB)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 23 January 2026

Debate

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Contribution

The noble and learned Lord has not responded to the question of what the doctor does if the patient develops the complication of not dying. The patient may begin to reawaken, but it is not clear at all what should happen if they say, “I want you to suffocate me. I want you to inject me with lethal drugs. I want you to force me to reingest”, or whatever. What is the doctor to do? The Bill requires the doctor to be present until either death occurs, the patient changes their mind or the procedure fails. So it would be helpful to make it clear that, in the event of a complication, the doctor is just to stand back and let things happen, because any intervention, such as clearing the patient’s airway when they are vomiting, would in fact be a resuscitative intervention.

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