Now she is in her final year of training, working on a cardiology ward with 30 beds. The patients are critically ill and deaths are frequent.

Propped on his knees was a book on euthanasia. He explained to me that this was what he wanted - a quick, easy end to a long, active life.

It now costs a huge sum to improve the life expectancy of someone in the West by even a fraction and very little to greatly improve that of his brother or sister in the Third World.

An old patient of mine and her husband sought my help to make peace with their 20-year-old son.