ABSTRACT
It is scarcely surprising that there is a huge volume of literature about assisted dying. The way in which we die is obviously of great signifi cance to us, as is the life we lead and the way we live it. We are now living longer, often with chronic but manageable conditions. Indeed, even conditions which would previously have been terminal can be handled in such a way that we may survive with them longer now than ever before. Paradoxically, however, it has been said that ‘[t]he most striking result of the success of medical technology is the very strong trend toward the combination of longer lives and worsening health’.1
