ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the five British cases, such as, Dr John Bodkin Adams, Dr John Carr, Dr Thomas Lodwig, Dr Nigel Cox and, Dr Michael Munro, in which doctors were accused of killing patients by drug overdose;. The use of the doctrine of double effect (DDE) was intended to demonstrate why the killings in question were wrong, on occasion, been used as a defence for doctors even though the facts of the cases indicate that they ought to have failed the DDE. The results of the textual analysis suggest that the language around DDE and inferences of intentional killing has shaped public discussions of the limits of medical assistance and of human suffering. The Director of Public Prosecutions has issued guidelines on when he is likely to recommend prosecution for assisted suicide. The ultimate complaint about a doctor, that of murder, or at least intentional killing, could become legalised and part of accepted medical practice.
