IN his letter expressing his many concerns about introducing a right to die, your correspondent William Campbell (September 14) writes about “alternative treatments being available”” and “palliative care” being of some value.

When a body is riddled with disease and has wounds that cannot be healed, with painkillers not eradicating all pain, there is a case for assisted dying.

When excessive morphine partly aids pain relief but adversely affects the brain of a strong and intelligent person, who has been unable to eat for 12 days, there is a case for assisted dying.

When that same person, who had told the church minister a week before death that death was their wish; when the family of the patient (the most loved person in a large family) all agree “it is time” because of the suffering; and when medical staff seem to agree, there is a case for assisted dying.

As Marianne Taylor pointed out in her column (“Sad case highlights need to look again at assisted suicide”, The Herald, September 11), various countries and states in America allow the practice.

Suicide is perhaps not the correct term but surely there is sufficient intelligence at Holyrood to create a comprehensive bill for assisted dying.

G Caskie,

Dunfermin,

Muasdale,

Kintyre.