When a cancer patient's life expectancy expands from three months to 10 or 20 years, it is considered good news. But what about when the patient is the Lockerbie bomber?

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi was released from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds last August after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.

al Megrahi, now 58, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which killed 270 people- including 189 Americans.

Scotland's decision to release him on compassionate grounds was made only eight and a half years after he was sentenced to life in prison. He was returned to Libya with the expectation that he would die within three months. Now, according to his doctor, he may live up to 10 or 20 years.

His release upset many of the Pan Am Flight 103's victim's family members. It also provokes an interesting question- should convicted murderers ever be released on compassionate grounds?

Please post your comments below and Kyra will read some during the 10am ET hour of the CNN Newsroom.