Canada: Supremes To Hear The Rasouli Case

The Rasouli case is going to the Canadian Supreme Court. Hassan Rasouli went into hospital for some relatively minor surgery and ended up severely brain damaged and supposedly sank into a “vegetative” state. His doctors want to pull the plug, his family says no.

SUPREME COURT OF CANADA AGREES TO HEAR HASSAN RASOULI CASE

Jonathan Sher writes for the London (Ontario) Free Press and has covered medical disputes that make their way into public view. In that capacity Sher has written about both “Baby Joseph” and Hassan Rasouli. In an analysis piece he wrote Monday, Sher compared and contrasted these two highly sensitive, highly important cases. more

Here’s a good commentary on the case from earlier this year:

Keeping hope alive

The family of Hassan Rasouli has been enduring a situation that any family can relate to. Their husband and father has been lying in Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre for almost nine months, in what his doctors describe as a vegetative state. He has no hope of recovery, they say. Rasouli’s wife and children disagree: they see flickers of recognition when he blinks his eyes.

The question is: who decides? Who has the right to say whether Rasouli and patients like him be kept alive or allowed to die? Doctors or families? more

Err On The Side Of Life: Sometimes "Brain Dead" People Wake Up

Yup, another case to show why we should always err on the side of life: Sometimes "brain dead" people actually wake up.

“Brain dead” woman awakes in Australian hospital

 “Hopeless” and “brain dead” are expressions which have to be used with great caution, it seems, judging from the experience of an Australian woman. more

India's Terri Schiavo: Hospital Staff Want Her To Live

While the legal eagles and doctors seek to establish whether India’s Terri Schiavo should be euthanized, the hospital staff who work with her are absolutely for her continuing to live. Should tell the politicos a lot, but I doubt that it will really matter in the end.

KEM Hospital staff wants Aruna Shanbaug to live

While the debate on euthanasia is back in the spotlight with the apex court’s directive, staff at KEM Hospital is resisting mercy killing of Aruna Shanbaug, who has been admitted to ward no 4 of the hospital since 38 years. more

India's Terri Schiavo To Be Examined - Euthanasia To Follow?

I posted yesterday about India’s Terri Schiavo. She’s been in a persistent unresponsive state for many years, but now some are pushing for her to be euthanized. We’ll see what happens after the panel of 3 medical experts has examined her.

SC sends medical team to nurse over euthanasia

New Delhi, Jan. 24: The Supreme Court today directed a three-member medical team to examine a Mumbai nurse, who has been in a coma for 36 years after a murderous rape attempt, following a plea to take her off life support so she could die peacefully.

A two-judge bench of Justices Markandey Katju and Gyansudha Mishra said it felt “like a ship in an uncharted sea” and also sought the attorney-general’s response even as it appointed an amicus curiae to help it with the “delicate” issue. 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

So, How Dead Do You Need To be? New US Guidelines

So, new US medical guidelines to establish when someone is dead. It’s a step in the right direction, seeing that until now the guidelines have been varied and allowed for the possibility of someone being diagnosed as brain dead when they weren’t. Major question: In the race to harvest organs, will doctors abide by these guidelines, seeing that the guidelines essentially increase the time from actual death to diagnosis of death. I’m not too hopeful here.

When is someone brain dead? Experts revise guidelines

Determining brain death is a complex process that requires dozens of tests to make sure doctors come to the correct conclusion. With that goal in mind, the American Academy of Neurology has issued new guidelines — an update of guidelines first written 15 years ago — that call on doctors to conduct a lengthy examination,

including following a step-by-step checklist of some 25 tests and criteria that must be met before a person can be considered brain dead. more

No Euthanasia Because They Sometimes Wake Up

Yes, folks, one very good reason to resist euthanasia for people in persistent unresponsive states – sometimes, even after many years, they wake up!!

The Death-trap of Euthanasia

Nineteen years in a coma,  the case of Jan Grzebski, a 65 year-old Polish man, was reported by various media around the world. He became known for the extraordinary fact that he woke up from a long physical absence, rather than a spiritual one.

A rail worker, in 1988 he suffered a serious labor related accident and fell into a deep coma. However, he regained his consciousness back completely in 2007. He affirms that, during those years of apparent unconsciousness, he was aware of all that was happening around him, even though he couldn’t move nor speak. more

Organ Trafficking Will Increase, Trust Me

Well, yes, organ trafficking is to be expected because demand far outstrips supply. Here’s the kicker, though: There’s a lot of chatter in bioethics circles tut-tutting the shortage of organs for transplantation and what to do about it. There are some who are advocating that the definition of death be changed in order to make more organs available, and, among some of the more deranged are suggesting that organ harvesting be allowed for people who are in persistent non-responsive states and even those with dementia. This call will increase, trust me.

Police smash Israeli organ ring

A retired army brigadier general is among six suspects arrested by Israeli police investigating an organ-trafficking ring, police say.

The organisation offered as much as $100,000 (£65,600) for kidneys, which were transplanted by doctors in poor countries, a sting operation uncovered.

Police said they had been "shocked" by the extent of the smuggling ring.

Retired Gen Meir Zamir, arrested in connection with the trafficking, won a medal of valour in the Yom Kippur War. more

Terri Schiavo Died 5 Years Ago today

Today is the fifth anniversary of the legal, medical execution of Terri Schiavo. June Maxam has a hard-hitting piece that should give us all pause.

The more things change

Five years ago today, March 31, 2005, Theresa Marie Schindler Schiavo died

Five years later, many are still trying to understand why and how America allowed it to happen but the more things change, the more they remain the same.

People die every day but seldom does the whole world watch, seldom does it impact the whole world as did the death of Terri Schiavo.

The world was stunned, in disbelief as a brain damaged, but otherwise healthy woman was dehydrated to death, publicly subjected to a slow, barbaric death over 13 days that her husband and the euthanasia sect called compassionate. more

Fox TV: "The Family Man" Hate Speech About Terri Schiavo

A recent episode of Fox's The Family Man made nasty fun of Terri Schiavo - that she's a vegetable, the most expensive plant you'll ever see, and that she had mashed potato brains. Yeah, real funny. Ha-ha. What cowards - picking on someone who can't even fight back.

Schiavo relatives offended by 'Family Guy' episode

The family and supporters of the late Terri Schiavo are upset over a Fox animated show's parody of the controversy over her death nearly five years ago.

The Sunday episode of "Family Guy" opened with a satire "Terri Schiavo: The Musical," which lampooned the lengthy and often emotional legal battle to keep her alive.

"Where has our decency gone? How could anyone think this is funny?" says Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler, who runs the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation. more

Here's the Reason Not to Kill Those in Unresponsive States - They Sometimes Wake Up!

This from Poland. The English is quaint, but the story's powerful nevertheless, about a man apparently in a permanently unresponsive state, presumed unconscious. Actually, (a) he recently recovered, and (b) he wasn't unconscious at all - he was aware of everything that was going on around him - including his doctors twisting his wife's hard to euthanize him.

A STRONG HIT FOR EUTHANASIA

Nineteen years in a coma. Jan Grzebski, the 65 year-old Polish man, occupied a distinguished role within the Media around the world. And, for an extraordinary fact he woke up from his long physical absence, other than spiritual. His profession was that of a rail worker, and in 1988 he suffered a serious labor related accident. And, he fell into a deep coma. However, he regained his consciousness back completely. He affirms that during all these passed years he was aware of all that was happening around him, even though he couldn’t move nor speak. more