An overdue obituary?

Sir Richard Doll, who recently died, made his name by discovering the link between smoking and lung cancer. However, his commitment to saving lives was rather undermined by his suggestion, in 1973, that people over 65 should be willing to accept death and not try to prolong their lives for too long. He wanted to save the state the money that it costs to look after pensioners, which rather begs the question of why he told them to give up their cigarettes in the first place. Ironically, he managed to survive until the ripe old age of 92. As is often the case, he clearly did not carry out his own advice himself.