Things Continue To Go Downhill In The Netherlands

The Dutch continue to take their hand basket closer to hell. Now pharmacists are getting a more prominent role in supplying info to people on how to kill themselves.

Doctors and chemists agree joint euthanasia guidelines

Doctors and dispensing chemists have agreed a joint guideline on euthanasia, doctors' federation KNMG and dispensing chemists' organisation KNMP said on Tuesday. more

Language To Control The Pro-Death Debate

The pro-deathers are ceaselessly creative – here’s the latest: the “ethics of waste avoidance.” Not hard to figure out what they mean.

From an Ethics of Rationing to an Ethics of Waste Avoidance

Bioethics has long approached cost containment under the heading of “allocation of scarce resources.” Having thus named the nail, bioethics has whacked away at it with the theoretical hammer of distributive justice. But in the United States, ethical debate is now shifting from rationing to the avoidance of waste. This little-noticed shift has important policy implications.

Whereas the “R word” is a proverbial third rail in politics, ethicists rush in where politicians fear to tread. The ethics of rationing begins with two considerations. First, rationing occurs simply because resources are finite and someone must decide who gets what. Second, rationing is therefore inevitable; if we avoid explicit rationing, we will resort to implicit and perhaps unfair rationing methods. more

Art Caplan Is Too Optimistic

Transparency alert: Art Caplan, commenting on something I said quite a while ago, called me a “cockeyed optimist.” I took that as a compliment. What he says in this piece is mostly useful, but he’s spinning nevertheless. He’s at pains (sorry) to say that if you choose all kinds of medical care at the end of your life, no prob. Really? This in a world where doctors are trained first and foremost as utilitarian bean counters and where whatever fine document you have saying what you want is easily overridden by doctor power? Now, maybe I can return the compliment.

Not a 'Death Panel': Call it 'Quality of Life'

I'm Art Caplan from the Center of Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. Today I'd like to talk to you a little bit about end-of-life care planning. This has been a very controversial issue. At first, the Obama health reform included financial incentives for doctors to talk with their patients about end-of-life care planning, but it has been withdrawn from legislation because there has been pushback. Some people are arguing that this is a kind of rationing or almost a form of death panel discussion where you're trying to persuade people not to use medical resources. more

American Medical Women’s Association Condones Medicalized Killing

Uh-huh. So now we have an entire supposedly legit medical association, the American Medical Women’s Association, which has swallowed the pro-deather spin hook, line, and proverbial sinker. On their page click on “Aid in Dying” (a pro-deather euphemism for assisted killing) and read what they stand for – killing their patients. OK, it’s not as blunt as that, but that’s what they mean. Here’s a taste. Be afraid, be very afraid, because what they’re advocating is medicalized assisted suicide – sorry, “Aid in Dying.”

2. AMWA believes the physician should have the right to engage in practice wherein they may provide a terminally ill patient with, but not administer, a lethal dose of medication and/or medical knowledge, so that the patient can, without further assistance, hasten his/her death. This practice is known as Aid in Dying. more

Medical Liability When Withholding Care 2

Here's Part 2 of an interesting piece discussing medical liability in issues surrounding withholding care. Part 1 is below.

Physician Liability: Withdrawing and Withholding Life Sustaining Care From a Conscious, Non Terminal, Incompetent Patients – Part II

There are different standards that must be appreciated and respected before a physician can support a decision to withdraw life sustaining treatment from a non terminal and incompetent patient.

This scenario requires the highest degree of protection for the patient. Our fundamental rights are the most important when we are the most vulnerable. Patients in this category are weak, often confused and subject to the effect of bias and undue influence. When illness requires life sustaining treatment family members may experience sympathy for the patient as well as opportunity to end their burden of caring for the patient. Some family members have said to others: "you have done so much, your life has been put on hold, how can we afford to pay for this care, etc. This can result in a request to withdraw or withhold artificial life support for what may be seen as being in every one's best interest. This often occurs in adult children caring for an elderly parent or spouse. more

Medical Liability When Withholding Care 1

This is a very interesting and informative piece on how the medicos look at legal liability in withholding care. Part II is above.

Withholding Life Sustaining Treatment: Letting the Conscious Non-Terminal, Incompetent, Patient Die: Hold On a Minute - Not So Fast - Part I

It is an injustice to cause patients to unnecessarily prolong the process of dying. Actual futile care must be avoided. But it is equally an injustice to easily acquiesce to patient’s demands that my result in unnecessary death.

On August 17, 2010 the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania decided a case involving a non-terminal, profoundly mentally retarded patient. The patient was conscious and non-terminal. David is 53 years old. David's parents were the guardians. more

Doctor Power: WE Know What's Best For You, So Shut Up

I missed this when it first came out, but this is exactly why we need to be constantly vigilant. This article is an exemplar of what I call doctor power. Where doctors actually ignore the wishes of the patient and their families and legal proxies – just because. Douglas DeGuerre’s medical records absolutely stipulated that all measures be taken to keep him alive. Guess what? The doctors ignored that legal directive and let him die in front of his distraught daughter.

Lawsuit could set precedent about end-of-life decisions

Joy Wawrzyniak's face is reflected in a photograph of her father, Douglas (Dude) DeGuerre. She is suing Sunnybrook hospital and two doctors, alleging they failed to try to save DeGuerre's life despite the family's wishes.

As her father lay struggling for breath in a Toronto hospital bed, Joy Wawrzyniak pleaded with doctors to intervene and save his life.

Medical staff instead stood back and allowed the World War II veteran to die, against his wishes and to the shock of his daughter, Wawrzyniak claims in a stunning $1 million lawsuit filed this week against Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and two doctors responsible for her father’s care.

While Wawrzyniak and her father, Douglas (Dude) DeGuerre, had repeatedly requested he receive life-saving treatment in case of a medical emergency, doctors unilaterally overruled those wishes without consent or consultation, the lawsuit claims. more

Here's Why We Shouldn't Kill People In Persistent Non-Responsive States

Here’s the perfect example against the pro-deather clamor to euthanize people who are in non-responsive states – because they sometimes get better.

Pensioner tells how he beat "locked in" syndrome after massive stroke

A stroke victim has told how he amazed doctors by overcoming "locked-in" syndrome in a case that raises questions for the assisted suicide debate.

Graham Miles, 66, said that through sheer willpower he regained the use of his body after he was left completely paralysed except for his eyes by a stroke in the stem of the brain which connects it to the body.

His recovery is such that he can now walk, talk and even races cars.

But while it has amazed doctors and his family and friends, it has also reopened the debate about assisted suicides and the assumption that completely paralysed patients can never recover. more

Here's Why We Should Always Err On The Side Of Life

Here’s why we should never, ever, assume people in persistent unresponsive states are “brain dead,” or to use a common epithet, “vegetables.” Just before Richard Rudd’s ventilator was turned off, a doctor checked one more time. Guess what, Richard was very much alive and able to communicate.

Blink, and you live – doctors' message to man in a coma

Richard Rudd and his father at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridgeshire. Photograph: BBC Wales/Rudd family

A man who was left paralysed and seemingly unable to communicate following a traffic accident was saved from having his life support machine turned off when he managed to blink three times to tell doctors that he did not want to die. more

UK Families Begin To Fight Back Against Killer Doctor

Just like the FEN post below, families of patients killed by Howard Martin, the Brit doctor who’s been bragging about killing his patients lately, are beginning to fight back. It’ll be interesting to see how the authorities react, although I’m not optimistic.

Calls for disgraced GP to face charges

FAMILIES of patients who died in the care of North-East GP Howard Martin last night called for the disgraced doctor to face fresh charges.

The appeal to prosecutors came after Dr Martin admitted he had used morphine to hasten deaths – including that of his own son.

The 75-year-old told a national newspaper he had acted out of “Christian compassion”.

Durham Police will consult the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to decide whether to launch a fresh investigation following the admission. more

UK: National Health Service Brutality I

For those of you who think nationalized medicine is such a brilliant idea that we in the US should get it too, read this – a UK mom, terminally ill, is being refused an expensive drug because it’s not going to make her better. The fact that it may well give her enough survival time to see her son go to school is completely ignored by the NHS murderers.

Family 'just wants more time' with mother denied costly cancer drug

A devastated family today attacked doctors for refusing to give a mother life-prolonging drugs that could let her live to see her son start school. more

Kudos For Medical Students In New Jersey For Committing To The Terminally Ill

Here’s an encouraging and innovative program at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School in Newark. They kept running into terminally ill patients who faced the prospect of dying alone. They decided to change that, pairing up each patient with a medical student who remains their support until their death. What a contrast tp the pro-deathers who can’t wait for people to kill themselves no matter what.

Learning Bedside Manners: When Students Are All EARS for Dying Patients

IN the last two months of his life, Nick Macioci suffered the ravages of cancer while grappling with the heartache of not being able to attend a funer- al for his mother, also a victim of the insidious disease. Now, Barbara Ciricillo holds onto mem- ories of the compassionate care her brother received at University Hospital (UH) in Newark during his last days and credits a student- inspired initiative at NJMS with encouraging him when she could not be there herself. more, beginning p. 25 of the pdf 

Some Sanity In The Singapore Assisted Suicide Debate

They’ve been debating assisted suicide and euthanasia in Singapore for quite a while now. Here’s a sane piece that counters the pro-deather spin in its common sense and offers a real sense of dignity at the end of life, not the ersatz dignity proffered by the pro-death crowd.

Should I fight to the bitter end?

SINGAPORE - His sister died two years ago of advanced liver cancer. Till today, Alexandra Hospital chief executive Liak Teng Lit and his family believe the "best care" she received was the three-hour talk with the surgeon on her options, and the subsequent decision not to operate.

"She had a really good death. She spent the last two months doing family things ... and when she finally died, we had a celebration," said Mr Liak. more

Gee, I Thought ALL Nurses Were Against Assisted Suicide!

Speaking of a slippery slope: Just exactly how far have we gone down that slope when we are asking nurses whether they agree with assisted suicide or not? That means they must think that not every nurse is against it, which, of course, is probably true. So, in this day and age, beware those kindly nurses’ faces, they may not have your best interests at heart!!

Share your views on assisted suicide

Nursing Times is asking nurses about their feelings and experience around assisted suicide.

We want to gain a comprehensive picture of how nurses deal with this difficult issue in hospitals, in the community, in hospices and nursing homes. more

Being Born Prematurely Should Not Be A Death Sentence

This rather long piece addresses the pros and cons of surviving neonates who are born at about 23-24 weeks. We all understand the pitfalls of such early births, but there are parts of this article that clearly show that there are those in the medical professions who would rather not bother with letting these kids live. On the other hand are parents who understand more than the so-called professionals that a medical disability shouldn’t have to be a death sentence.

Two new pieces of research raise a profoundly troubling question: Is it sometimes wrong to keep premature babies alive?

When Hayley Franklin reached what she thought was the halfway point of her longed-for pregnancy, she had no idea of the horrifying decision she and her husband, Jez, would have to make barely two weeks later.

As she lay in a hospital bed, reeling from the news that her baby was almost certain to arrive dangerously early, her consultant offered two stark options: 'You can have a termination or I can try to turn a non-surviving foetus into a severely disabled child, by holding off your labour until the baby has a chance of survival. The choice is yours.'

Death or disability. No one would choose either for their child. But for parents of any baby born at 24 weeks or earlier, these are often the options. more

It's Official: Let's Harvest Organs Before People Are Dead

Well, this idea has been bubbling up for a number of years, and now a prominent radical pro-deather and one of his students has outed the unthinkable in a so-called scholarly journal. Oxford’s Julian Savulescu is one of the most outspoken scholars calling for redefining death and pushing generally way-out-there utilitarian ideas. With this piece, he’s made it official: we should harvest organs from people for transplantation before they are dead. He’s also coined a new term: Organ Donation Euthanasia. I for one am (ahem) so excited about this cutting edge thinking.

Organ Donation Euthanasia

. . .This is a proposal for those 5000 patients each year who will have their life saving treatment stopped. We can give them the option in advance to donate their organs if they are ever going to have their treatment limited because their prognosis is deemed hopeless. If the person agreed in advance to be such an organ donor, and an independent committee confirmed that the patient’s prognosis was hopeless and treatment should be stopped, the patient could be taken to an operating theatre in controlled circumstances, given a general anaesthetic and have their organs removed. The surgical procedure would be a form of euthanasia. We could call it “organ-donation euthanasia”. This option would give people the best chance of ensuring that their organs do not go to waste after their death. It would also prevent the patient from suffering after life support was withdrawn. It would harm noone, and would potentially benefit a number of seriously ill patients in organ failure. more

American Board Of Anesthesiology Hypocrisy

Ho-hum, I’m shocked, shocked, I tell you!! The American Board of Anesthesiology is tut-tutting over its members participating in administering lethal injections in state executions. Too bad they are pretty silent on their members assisting suicide or carrying out euthanasia. Ah, you say, that never happens. Anyone wanna bet??

Anesthesiologists and Capital Punishment

The majority of states in the United States authorize capital punishment, and nearly all states utilize lethal injection as the means of execution. However, this method of execution is not always straightforward (1), and, therefore, some states have sought the assistance of anesthesiologists (2).

This puts anesthesiologists in an untenable position. They can assuredly provide effective anesthesia, but doing so in order to cause a patient’s death is a violation of their fundamental duty as physicians to do no harm. more

Killing For Profit

The drumbeat of poster-people in the UK glorifying assisted suicide continues apace. Don’t think assisted sucide is a business?? Andrew Barnes has already paid Swiss death clinic Dignitas $13,000 to travel there to kick the bucket as his has (ahem) “right.”

I have a right to end my life with dignity

A FORMER pilot given just three months to live is planning to die with the help of Swiss assisted-dying clinic Dignitas.

Andrew Barnes said his quality of life was deteriorating quickly because of a failing liver and an enlarged heart.

He regularly suffers pulmonary edema — fluid on the lungs — and takes a cocktail of drugs to control his illnesses.

Mr Barnes, 54, by his own admission a heavy drinker, was told three years ago that unless he reduced his alcohol intake, he faced life-threatening disease.

He was given his recent prognosis during treatment at the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital last week, where he spent ten days having fluid drained from his lungs. more

An Asian Doctor Gets It Right

A perfectly sane and reasoned rationale for not killing people who are suffering.

Embrace Life

. . . Now and then, the topic of euthanasia, or mercy killing, pops up in public discourse. When faced with an illness like advanced cancer that inflicts pain, suffering and ultimately death, should we go through with it or fast-forward?

 All our lives are accompanied by trials and tribulations. Some may argue that even in terrible situations like advanced cancer, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The "light" - in this sense - is the ultimate release: death.

I feel that such arguments miss the point. It is more important that we have loved ones and acquaintances who support us, help us and encourage us along the way. more

Hastings Center Spins Healthcare Rationing - Without Ever Mentioning Rationing

Here's the rationing spin from the Hastings Center (yes, the same place where President Obama got many of his new members for the President's Council on Bioethics). Note that the word rationing is never mentioned. Instead, it's a "new way of thinking" another needed "revolutionary movement" like feminism, environmentalism, and civil rights. Okkkaaaayyyy...... so we want a new way of thinking that restricts medical treatment. Spin, spin, spin. Keep a sharp eye out for it.