I think if the doctor is a good doctor and has a patient's best interest in mind then he's not going to allow anything to compromise that patient's care. The bottom line is the doctor has to care for his patient. You have to have that overwhelming sense of welfare for your patient.

The health dollar is very precious. When someone has such a bad condition as brain cancer, we know they're going to die and they're usually going to die within 12 months of diagnosis. They cost a lot of money to keep the patient alive for that period of time. Is it really worth it?

If I've operated on 8,000 brain tumours, if 7,999 patients were satisfied, if I'd done the right thing, if I have funded research like I have, if I've raised millions of dollars like I have, and yet there was one patient out there who was unhappy, I think it's a price that you pay. The good would overcome that one bit of bad.

In a medical sense I'm a prophet. But I'm not unique. I mean there are many prophets in many different vocations. I happen to be one of them, without sounding too egotistical I am a pioneer. I am doing pioneering stuff in neurosurgery. There is stuff that I'm doing that no-one else is doing.

Life to me is just so precious. I fail to see the wrong in keeping someone alive who's still got quality of life even if it's only for a few months.