UK law holds that a person who suffers brain-stem death is dead, but some campaigners argue such a definition is defective. For example, they argue, there is no agreed way to define when the brain is dead. Euthanasia has many definitions. Living wills allow people to specify what treatment they want if they become mentally incompetent - if they develop dementia, for instance. The government is drawing up plans to give them legal force.
Palliative care is a fast-growing specialty in medicine.
It involves the care of patients who are terminally ill. Physician-assisted suicide is when a patient asks their doctor to provide them with drugs that will shorten or end life. Withdrawal of treatment is a hugely controversial area. Also known as passive euthanasia , it is where the doctor withholds life-sustaining treatment. Many doctors would argue there reaches a point in the care of a patient where treatment is no longer of any help.