The British Geriatrics Society's position on assisted dying.

In response to increased focus on the issue of Assisted Dying (AD) in the UK due to the presentation of The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 2024-25 [1] and bills before parliaments in the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Scotland, the British Geriatric Society (BGS) recently developed a position statement opposing legalisation of AD in the UK [2]. We set out our key reasoning behind this position, namely the current adverse health and social care context and significant concern about whether effective safeguards can be created to protect older people with complex needs from undue harms. The BGS asks for improved, personalised, multidisciplinary care for older people at the end of their lives, including high-quality palliative and end-of-life care.

Rectal pseudodiverticulum.

We present the case of a 77-year-old woman who initially presented 13 years ago to a colorectal clinic with a change in bowel habit and bleeding per rectum over 7 months. These symptoms were attributed to a tubulovillous rectal adenoma which was excised transanally, but recurred five times in 12 years. The most recent endoscopy showed recurrence of the rectal adenoma and a new rectal diverticulum.

Small cell lung cancer presenting with a left iliac fossa mass.

We report a 59-year-old lifelong smoker with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who presented with an acute onset 3-day history of left iliac fossa pain and abdominal distension. Clinical examination revealed a palpable mass in the left iliac fossa. The differential diagnosis was that of a diverticular abscess or colonic tumour.

Epiploic appendagitis with acute appendicitis.

A 28-year-old woman presented to accident and emergency department with a 1-day history of right-sided abdominal pain. She was afebrile, and haemodynamically stable, and the initial diagnosis was acute appendicitis. A transvaginal ultrasound scan was performed and was suggestive of appendicitis.

Severe necrotic oesophageal and gastric ulceration associated with dabigatran.

A 69-year-old Caucasian man, who had been discharged 2 days previously, 5 days post-elective right total hip replacement, was re-admitted with a 16 h history of coffee-ground vomiting and epigastric pain. He had been discharged with 220 mg dabigatran, a novel oral anticoagulant. The coffee-ground vomiting started within minutes of taking the first dose.