"Neither will I administer a poison to anybody when asked to do so" = "neither will I administer a substance I know to be deleterious or harmful to life." The

"Neither will I administer a poison to anybody when asked to do so" = "neither will I administer a substance I know to be deleterious or harmful to life." The very first definition of "poison" in the OED is: "Material that causes illness or death when introduced into or absorbed by a living organism." Medicine has a therapeutic window that's context-dependent. Part of the doctor's job, which is why they make real money and have relatively high social status, is determining the right course of treatment from that context. To cure -- not to harm, not to kill. If a cure is impossible, to comfort. > What is a greater relief then death? Or less flippantly, who gets to decide what relief is, if not the patient? Patients have every right to refuse treatment. They can also end their own lives; nothing could be simpler. What's perverse is forcing the medical establishment -- in view of its other responsibilities, duties, and oaths -- to act as executioner. It disgraces everybody involved. The doctor ends up dishonored, the state itself is shamed, the human dignity of the patient is, frankly, severely reduced.