The comments were published in a blog post by Dr Richard Smith, who edited the highly respected medical journal for 13 years.
He thinks that we should stop ‘wasting millions’ trying to cure cancer, and instead see the disease in a different way.
He wrote:
“The long, slow death from dementia may be the most awful as you are slowly erased, but then again when death comes it may be just a light kiss.
“Death from organ failure—respiratory, cardiac, or kidney—will have you far too much in hospital and in the hands of doctors.
“So death from cancer is the best, the closest to the death that Buñuel wanted and had. You can say goodbye, reflect on your life, leave last messages, perhaps visit special places for a last time, listen to favourite pieces of music, read loved poems, and prepare, according to your beliefs, to meet your maker or enjoy eternal oblivion.
“This is, I recognise, a romantic view of dying, but it is achievable with love, morphine, and whisky. But stay away from overambitious oncologists, and let’s stop wasting billions trying to cure cancer, potentially leaving us to die a much more horrible death.”
He also wrote that he didn’t want his comments to be taken seriously, but wished to spark a discussion about the disease.
His followers wasted no time in commenting on the blog post, with some praising his piece as ‘thought provoking’ and others not being quite so complimentary,
What do you think about Dr Smith’s comments?