Switzerland & US: Pro-Death Parallels

Here’s an excellent piece on the parallels between creeping death in Switzerland and here in the US.

The Practice of Assisting Suicide is on the Rise in the U.S. and Abroad

On March 27th , the government of Switzerland released a report on the practice of assisting suicide with a dramatic conclusion: five out of every 1,000 resident deaths now involve assisting suicide.  Swiss authorities recorded a steady rise of assisted suicides over the decade that records were kept.

While assisting suicide is legal in only a tiny handful of jurisdictions both in the U.S. and abroad, the Swiss practice operates extra-legally.  Assisting suicide in Switzerland is technically illegal, but the law on the matter punishes only those with selfish motives–which has turned out to be nearly impossible to prove in Swiss courts.  This has, in practice, led to a system where anyone can assist in a suicide with no essentially no restriction on who can utilize suicide. more

Ongoing Debate: When Is Dead Really Dead?

The push to redefine death goes on – all in favor of organ recipients and with little concern with what happens to the donors.

Donation after cardiac death: controversies with a controversy

There are few areas in bioethics which require more philosophical subtlety than determining when death happens in organ donation. But an NPR feature this week on the controversial problem of donation after cardiac death has highlighted an area which is even more controversial.

The dead donor rule – the golden rule of transplant surgeons -- is that vital organs may be taken only from patients who are unequivocally dead. Death is determined by the cessation of brain activity (brain death) or by the irreversible cessation of circulation and respiration (cardiac death). more

More On California "Assisted Suicide"

Here's more on the California woman charged with assisted suicide. There's no way to know if her version of events is accurate.

Victim of Alleged Assisted Suicide Remembered as Quiet, Good-Natured

Residents say Laguna Niguel resident Jack Koency loved his World War II medals and kept to himself. Elizabeth Barrett has been charged with giving him a lethal dose of Oxycontin mixed into yogurt.

Jack Koency was a quiet man whose shoes made funny noises when he walked and who loved his World War II medals, neighbors said Wednesday.

The 86-year-old Laguna Niguel resident died Sept. 30 in an alleged assisted suicide, and his accused accomplice was arrested Wednesday morning. more

California: Assisted Suicide Or Murder?

Well, how do we know this was an assisted suicide? We only have the perpetrator’s word for it. The person who could assure us that no abuse occurred is dead. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

O.C. woman accused of helping WWII veteran commit suicide

A Laguna Woods woman was arrested on suspicion of helping an 86-year-old WWII veteran commit suicide by mixing drugs into his yogurt, authorities said.

Elizabeth Barrett, 66, has been charged with one felony count of assisted suicide and faces a maximum sentence of three years in state prison, the Orange County district attorney’s office announced Wednesday.

Prosecutor Ebrahim Baytieh said Barrett was an “acquaintance” of Jack Koency, who was not terminally ill but had previously suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. more

Excellent Arguments Against Assisted Suicide As A "Right"

Here’s an excellent piece arguing against the pro-deather idea that assisted suicide and euthanasia should be “rights.”

What sort of misanthrope campaigns for the 'right to die'?

It says a lot about the opinion-forming classes that pretty much the only right they get excited about these days is the "right to die". They treat the right to free speech as a negotiable commodity which may be snatched away from un-PC people. They have given the nod to the watering down of other essential rights, such as the right to trial by jury and the right to silence. But the "right to die"? They cleave to that like crazy. It is the one right which, if you will forgive the pun, they would die for. more

Oregon Death Stats Misleading

Read this and see how full of holes the Oregon assisted suicide law are. After all the assurances that legalizing assisted suicide would be strictly controlled, we find that, gee whiz, it’s open to massive abuse.

Oregon releases assisted suicide stats

Oregon’s public health division has released statistics on deaths under its physician-assisted suicide (PAS) legislation. It shows a steady increase in the number of lethal prescriptions and in the number of deaths. In 1998, the first year after PAS was legalised, there were 24 prescriptions and 16 deaths. In 2011, there were 114 prescriptions and 71 deaths. A total of 935 people have had lethal prescriptions and 596 have died.

The Physicians for Compassionate Care Education Foundation, a staunch foe of the legislation, analysed the 2011 figures. Here are some of its comments:

62 doctors wrote 114 prescriptions, with some writing up to 14 prescriptions each. Some doctors knew the patient for only one week before writing the prescriptions. It is known that some doctors are prominent prescribers of lethal barbiturates for assisted suicide.

The report states “9 people with prescriptions written in previous years ingested medication during 2011”. The term “previous years” indicates that some received prescriptions during multiple years prior to 2011 (such as in 2010, 2009 or earlier). In short, some individuals had the prescription for longer than a year before ingesting the drugs, far longer than the law’s 6-months life expectancy guidelines. Some patients lived as long as 872 days after requesting assisted suicide. Clearly, the law’s guidelines are meaningless; not all who receive these prescriptions are terminal. more