Having passed my preclinical training at St Mary’s Hospital Medical School in Paddington, London, in 1970, I enthusiastically hit the wards of the hospital. 

However, I was shocked to see a patient with a fungating maxillary cancer that smelled so bad it permeated the whole ward. 

You could see into her pharyngeal space from the end of the bed. 

Surely we could provide euthanasia for that patient, at her request?