Doctor: Death from cancer is the best and we should stop spending money to cure it

[davidn3600]

"Death from cancer is the best," a high-profile British doctor has written. He has suggests that we should stop wasting billions trying to cure cancer and instead be thankful for the fact that the disease gives us plenty of warning about our impending death, during which time we can combat the pain of dying with "love, morphine, and whisky."

When he says "death from cancer is the best," Dr. Richard Smith is supposed to be comparing it to other ways of dying, but the idealized way in which he describes a cancer death (he admits himself that his view is romantic) and the fact that he is so keen to have the search for treatment abandoned makes it sound as if he means "death from cancer is, like, the best thing ever."

Smith, a former British Medical Journal editor and contributor to BBC television, believes that cancer is a blessing in disguise because it gives us time to tie up our affairs, not only financial and practical, but also in terms of mending broken relationships, saying goodbye to loved ones and revisiting our favorite music, poetry and locations one last time.

"I often ask audiences how they want to die, and most people chose sudden death," writes Smith. "'That may be OK for you,' I say, 'but it may be very tough on those around you, particularly if you leave an important relationship wounded and unhealed. If you want to die suddenly, live every day as your last, making sure that all important relationships are in good shape, your affairs are in order, and instructions for your funeral neatly typed and in a top draw – or perhaps better on Facebook.'"

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/01/high-profile-doctor-says-death-from-cancer-is-the-best-and-that-we-should-stop-spending-money-to-cure-it/


This guy may be a doctor, but he's got one hell of a terrible way of getting his point across. I think he's saying we are all going to die someday and that it is his choice to die from cancer because he'd rather die slow than suddenly.

[exboyfil]

1. I recommend a good book

The Emperor of all Maladies. Some cancers can be fought quite effectively. Other treatments extend what could be considered by most as a good quality of life. Sometimes though it is better to fold your cards and go for quality in your remaining life over quantity.

[Taitertots]

2. Watching your loved ones slowly die from cancer is not comforting

I'm much more comforted by spending time with my loved ones that have survived cancer.

This guy is an asshole because you can do all the things he said to prepare for death AND still keep trying to fight the cancer. They are not mutually exclusive.

[Yo_Mama]

8. Most certainly.

I think of all the long-term survivors of cancer that I have encountered, and I cannot fathom where this doctor is coming from.

[madinmaryland]

10. Watching your loved ones slowly die from alzheimer's or dementia is not comforting, either.

That to me is far worse way to go.

[Politicalboi]

3. I hear Arsenic poisoning is slow Dr

Why not take a big glass now so you can get everything in order before you die. What an ass.

[pinboy3niner]

4. Doctor Death is a good name for him. nt

[spartan61]

5. Two words:

Cannibis Oil. Think Rick Simpson. I watched my husband die from brain cancer. If the good doctor thinks dying from cancer is the best, he has never watched a loved one suffer from this terrible disease.

[pansypoo53219]

6. yeah, my grandpa suffered from lung to bone cancer. other grandpa had a heart attack at 84.

i'll take sudden.

[onenote]

7. Let's see what he thinks if and when he or a loved one has cancer.

[Contrary1]

9. Let me check with my friend, Louise...

Diagnosed in her late 20's. She's been on one treatment or another for 14 years now. Metastatic breast cancer.

Yes she is dying, and she is grateful for every single day of life, but I doubt that she would agree with this "doctor". Certainly not the best way to die.

[liberal_at_heart]

11. Nothing says you can't work on your relationships before you die.

you don't have to wait for a terminal illness to work on your relationships. I have a gene that predisposes me to breast and ovarian cancer. My mother and grandmother died from breast cancer. I was too young to watch my mother die, but I know it left my entire family scarred from it. I will say this. If I do get terminal cancer I will ask my husband and kids to go through counseling with me so we can try and navigate the dying process together. Dying may not be fun or easy but it is natural, as natural as being born.