Ask the Doctor

Is mercy killing legal?

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I have an aged grandmother who has been bedridden, blind and incoherent for years. The family is considering a medically induced exit (mercy killing) for our old woman in order to put her out of her misery. Although I am aware that in some advanced countries of the world, a medical doctor is allowed to terminate the life of a terminally ill patient on the request of the patient’s family, I am not sure if such a Law exists in Nigeria. Kindly educate me on this.

Prince (by SMS)

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Euthanasia (Mercy Killing) has long been a very controversial issue the world over. While a school of thought considers it unnecessary to prolong the suffering or excessive medical expenses of a terminally ill or highly disabled person like your grandmother, another school thinks it is criminal for anyone to terminate the life of an individual whatever his/her state of health. While a few cases of Euthanasia have been performed on court orders in the US, the act is still considered illegal the world over. In actual fact, the 30th General Assembly of the World Medical Association still considers Euthanasia unethical.

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  • God bless Dr SULE who save me from hepatitis b virus with his herbal medicine you can also call him for help or whatsapp him +2349020549018

  • Allow her to die her own death, don't package that wrath of God on your future offspring.

  • This is a question that straddles both legal practice and medical practice. However, it must be quickly pointed out that it's more legal than medical in nature and therefore ought to be answered better by a legal practitioner than a medical practitioner.

    While I will not bother to proffer answer to the question which I am convinced has been answered fairly satisfactorily, I must quickly point out that it's risky for a medical practitioner to pretend to have published his answer to such an overtly legal question. #OObasogie

  • No! Some people, on the verge of death and written off by medical experts, bounced back to life miraculously. Some other people who were certified OK health wise, died.

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