Assistance with suicide

Assistance with suicide comprises the deliberate provision of assistance for action taken by a patient himself or herself to end their own life, at the request of that patient. Assistance with suicide is deemed to have taken place if the doctor states that:

• the patient’s death is the result of the use of treatment prescribed or applied by him or her, or by a colleague, with the deliberate intention of hastening the patient’s death, and
• it is also stated that no-one other than the patient himself or herself applied or took the treatment.