My maternal grandfather was a heavy smoker, who, 22 years before he died, when he woke up of a morning, had to have a cigarette or he'd cough. His vascular surgeon told him that he had peripheral vascular disease and that he didn't need an operation if he'd quit smoking and take up walking. No, my grandfather insisted upon his operation and on one leg, he developed gangrene.

He also had numerous heart attacks.

I know how frustrating it would be for a cardiologist to have a patient brought in by ambulance, and if they were like my grandfather, would have said, "Oh, no, no, I don't smoke." And they find out that they do and the cardiologist says, "Okay, you have a blockage in your left coronary artery, and you're going to need a bypass." So, they book them into hospital, they take a graft from their arm or leg and graft it to divert the blood around the blockage. They then get the person up and walking and discharge them from hospital with a statin, blood pressure medications and low dose aspirin, and send them to cardiac rehabilitation. They continue smoking, and four months later, they're back in hospital and the doctor says, "Okay, I've got some good news and I've got some bad news. The good news is, you have a blockage in your right coronary artery, and I can fix that with a stent. The bad news is, you are developing blockages in the bypass graft, which will also require stents." They have the stents inserted and the doctor discharges them. Then, they return with another heart attack and the doctor says, "Okay, you have heart failure, as well. You're going to need a pacemaker." So, they get that.

The doctor is frustrated, but the Hippocratic Oath says that you will administer treatment to anyone and everyone, whether it be your best friend or your worst enemy. I can understand the frustration, when the answer lies in front of them, but, do you neglect your duty?

I mean, my down the road neighbour had kidney failure and his doctor suggested dialysis. He refused. His doctor suggested he quit smoking. He refused. He was told he had two years without dialysis. Six months later, he came down to see my parents on the Tuesday and he had a lung full of moisture and looked tired. On the Thursday, his wife went out to do some shopping, and when she came home, she went and got my father, in a state, but my neighbour was dead.