The day may very well come, as it did for me, when you are faced with the stark reality of a loved one in absolute agony and you can do little or nothing to help them. At that point it is my experience that the luxury of petty morality goes completely out of the window. I believe that if you help someone to die out of love and have to live with the consequences of that action for the rest of your life, then what right does anyone else have to JUDGE you and find you guilty. It's difficult for anyone who is in the business of saving lives, like you Tom or Dr Crippen, to subscribe to Euthanasia or Assisted Suicide, and that is as it should be. I would be terribly concerned if health care professionals were all rushing to help the old and infirm "pass on". They should also recognise that there *are* occasions when having a *choice* in the matter precludes any niceties of personal distaste. The bountous compassion they show for the ill should be extendable to the grotesque "living dead". Palliative care can be quite good, but often goes absolutely nowhere in maintaining any quality of life. Pain can be relieved but only at the loss of motor and/or cognitive functions. Would you define this as life? I wouldn't and I wouldn't like to be in that condition either. Tom, please don't ascribe labels such as "kill patients". It's hurtful. Your blog is widely read and as such is a very powerful forum for your opinions. Fair enough, but as Uncle Ben says to Spiderman "With great power comes great responsibility". Use it wisely.