'Help me stop my brother killing himself'

Steven Wright, 51, said his younger brother Jeffrey is snubbing medical advice to undergo chemotherapy despite "wasting away" at the Western General Hospital.

Distraught Mr Wright told the Evening News that his brother, who is suffering cancer of the blood, is refusing treatment because previous bouts were too traumatic and is now calling for a change in the law.

He said: "Doctors have said he could possibly recover with treatment and if there's an opportunity for him to get better, why have we been prevented from doing that?

"It's a form of suicide. We cannot just sit by and watch this happen.

"Our hands are tied as we know he can get better if he has the treatment."

Burdiehouse resident Jeffrey Wright, 48, fended off cancer six years ago after a "horrendous" year of intensive treatment which resulted in him losing his hair.

He had been given the all-clear in 2007 but was again diagnosed with cancer five months ago after his family noticed he was shedding weight dramatically and was not eating.

Earlier this year, Jeffrey was admitted to hospital, but is refusing chemotherapy.

In a statement, Dr Charles Swainson, medical director for NHS Lothian, said dealing with cancer posed difficulties for both the patient and family.

"What's important is that we follow the wishes of the patient at this time," he said.

"It can be difficult for the family and that's why our highly-trained staff are there to support them."

Mr Wright said his family knew something was "seriously wrong" with Jeffrey months ago but his brother ignored pleas to see a doctor.

He claimed they physically took him to hospital for a check-up but he spurned medical help.

"When he was there he would not accept any treatment and then just walked out of hospital," said Mr Wright.

"We took him back and they diagnosed him with cancer again, but we knew that already because he was a skeleton and his clothes were falling off him. He looked very ill. He was about five or six stone."

He said his brother had suffered so much during the first bout of treatment that he could not bear to have more.

"When he first had treatment he lost his hair and his skin was like leather, that's what happens with the treatment, and I think he didn't want to go through that again."

Mr Wright claims his brother is only receiving pain relief in hospital and believes he has "given up hope".

He added: "I just want to say to him, please take the treatment the doctors are offering."

He said his brother had left Edinburgh around 15 years ago to work in London but was hospitalised after an attack while on a trip to Brighton and struggled to cope afterwards.

He had dropped his performing career, returned to Edinburgh, and hadn't worked since.

Mr Wright said his elderly mother has been suffering "terribly" following the cancer diagnosis.

"My mother is 74 years old and quite a strong-willed person, but she has been at the hospital every day and she did not expect any of her children to die before her," he said.

Jeffrey Wright declined to comment.

A former Edinburgh GP with 40 years' experience, Ian McKee MSP, said: "I would be very worried about a proposal that people should be treated against their wishes."