Alva B. Weir, an oncologist in Germantown, Tennessee, told this story:

"I was awakened from sleep by the telephone. On the other end of the line, a distraught woman told me that her son had cancer, was a patient of one of my partners, was unconscious, breathing badly, with an empty bottle of pills at his bedside.

"This patient had recently discovered that his cancer had metastasized to his bone. Along with his pain, he had lost control of his bowels. He could not tolerate the thought of pain and incontinence with no hope of cure. He had decided to end his life and appeared close to succeeding. The mother did not know what to do. I convinced her to bring him to the hospital.

"I met them in the emergency room. The patient was breathing badly and looked as if he were dying from the overdose. I examined the patient, checked the laboratory results, and recommended that we lavage his stomach and place him on a ventilator until the drugs left his system.

"The mother was uncertain; the brother took charge, suggesting that the patient desired suicide and that they should honor his wishes and let him die in peace rather than bring him through to face life with cancer. They insisted on taking him home with no therapy.

"I worked with them for some time, and they compromised by allowing me to admit him to the hospital with only oxygen and intravenous fluid support, but no tubes and no ventilator. They consented mainly because of logistical and legal complications produced by a patient dying at home of suicide.

"I admitted him, expecting him to die. The following weekend I was surprised to find this man's name on my list. I walked into the room to find a beaming mother and an alert patient. With the minimal support, he had survived his overdose. After another week, he was walking with his pain improved, bowels controlled, and depression diminished.

"I realized that this man and his family, who had chosen for him the absence of life forever, were experiencing moments together of unfathomable value.

"There is no one this side of heaven who has the ability to make the correct decision regarding when our life should be extinguished. Society should err on the side of the precious nature of human life rather than that of personal choice."