"Peter HK" wrote in message
...

"Duncan Heenan" wrote in message
...

IF you're a doctor,

Haven't been struck off yet

Neither have I.

and IF he's got Alzheimer's, how is sailing going to make the rest of his
life any worse? If his girlfriend is 60+ she's old enough to make her own
mind up. Is it the father's happiness the daughter's worried about, or her
inheritance going on a boat and a girlfriend.
Chances are, that at that age he'll be so tired in a week or less that
he'll tie up somewhere and live happily ever after in port. If he dies at
sea, so what? It's how he's chosen to go, and at 85 what else has he to
look forward to/

The decision if and/or when to intervene when someone has an illness that
will impair their judgement and rational decision making cpacity is
difficult. Most of us live in nanny states that want to protect people
from themselves.

I personally would not be keen to intervene if it were only he at risk,
but there is the issue of his friend and possibly others. What if he
forgot to keep appropriate attention and hit another vessel, or failed to
anchor properly and dragged, damaging other vessels or their crew?

As an analogy, a few years ago there was report of an elderly demented man
who entered a motorway up an off ramp and was driving in the opposite
direction to the traffic. A fatal accident occurred, killing a couple in
another car, while the demented man was uninjured.

Would you stop him driving? I would.

Is a boat so different?

Peter HK

Society's moral judgements are reflected in the law. There is no law against
unqualified people sailing boats, there is one regarding people who drive
cars, who have to be licensed and medically fit. Your example is a poor one
because the demented man driving the car was doing so illegally. Society
has, by not requiring sailors to take tests, ruled that anyone can go
sailing on their own decision alone. Relying on a doctor to decide on what
you should or should not do is rather like letting the motor mechanic decide
where you should drive your car to. I can see no reason to give any more
credence to a doctor's moral views than anyone else's, lest of all the
'patient', especially when the patient doesn't even feel ill.