Man looses battle over right-to-die

The court of appeal has rejected a request by a paralysed man that doctors should be allowed to help him die.
Paul Lamb, 57, from Leeds, had taken on the "right to die" case originally brought by Tony Nicklinson, a sufferer of "locked-in syndrome" who died last year, and a week after losing his high court euthanasia battle.
Nicklinson's widow, Jane, supported the appeal against the previous judgment which, she said, had condemned her husband to a life he no longer wanted to lead. Both want to overturn the prohibition on doctors helping to end the lives of their patients.
By a two-to-one majority, however, the judges did uphold another appeal by a man, known only as Martin, who is suffering from "locked-in syndrome". He is seeking clearer guidance about whether any doctor of nurse who accompanied him to a suicide clinic in Switzerland would be prosecuted.
Lamb and Nicklinson's lawyers argued there should be a defence of necessity available to any doctor assisting someone to die and that the current law of murder is incompatible with the right to respect for private and family life under article 8 of the European convention on human rights. That article includes a right to autonomy and self determination at the end of life.
The case was heard by a high-ranking bench of judges: the lord chief justice, Lord Judge, the master of the rolls, Lord Dyson, and Lord Justice Elias.