Rational suicide

A person’s right to refuse treatment is based on their capacity to make a rational decision – but what is the situation when someone is admitted after a suicide attempt? Can you be simultaneously rational and suicidal? Anthony David from the Institute of Psychiatry gives us his views. A second interview deals with Barrett’s oesophagus, which is on the increase. The same is true for adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus, which can arise from the condition. We talked to Rebecca Fitzgerald from the Hutchison/MRC Research Centre how developments in treatment, and a new method of sampling, could make a national screening test a possibility.