These are terminally ill patients, with no hope of recovery, who are in debilitating pain. Who is Ashcroft to tell them that sorry, they'll just have to bite the pillow and bear with it.
My step-father had prostate cancer that led to bone cancer. At 5'9", he weighed about 80 lbs. at death. My wife and I went down to Phoenix to give what aid and commfort we could to my mother. After seeing him and hearing the cries of a WWII vet who survived the beaches at Normandy, and had a ditinguised career as a police officer (best finger print man in AZ), as he laid helpless in bed, tore at all of us.
Those who would deny a man like that an easier death are either heartless or unknowing.
BTW, morphine and demerol don't do didly for bone cancer.