the difference between positive acts and omissions was highlighted in
Bland [1993] : the House of Lords held that euthanasia by means of positive steps to end a patient's life, such as administering a drug to bring about his death, is unlawful. however, withdrawing medical treatment, including artificial feeding, from an insensate patient with no hope of recovery when it was known that the result would be that the patient would die soon, is lawful if it was in the patient's best interests not to prolong his life