Patients Rights Council

“Minnesota grand jury indicts right-to-die group, members for actions in woman’s 2007 suicide”

prc — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:37:50 +0000

The 17-count indictment charges officials of the Final Exit Network. “[I]t is an effort to bring to justice a corporation and several of its officers and volunteers who we are alleging advised, encouraged or assisted Doreen Dunn in the taking of her own life on May 30, 2007, in violation of Minnesota law.”

Washington Post
“Minnesota grand jury indicts right-to-die group, members for action in woman’s 2007 suicide”
May 14, 2012
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“World-weary Swiss seniors seek suicide help”

prc — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:29:29 +0000

New figures show that more and more Swiss seniors are taking advantage of assisted suicide even when they do not suffer from any terminal diseases.

The Local
“World-weary Swiss seniors seek suicide help”
May 9, 2012
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“Argentina’s senate votes for ‘dignified death’ law”

prc — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:00:17 +0000

The law applies to the terminally ill as well as patients suffering from irreversible and incurable illness or injury, and says they have the right to refuse surgical procedures, hydration and nutrition, reanimation and life-support systems. Rather than seek a court order, all they need do is prepare an advanced health-care directive and sign it before a notary and two witnesses.

CBS News
“Argentina’s senate votes for ‘dignified death’ law”
May 10, 2012
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“Cancer patient joins NM ‘right-to-die’ law fight”

prc — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:48:49 +0000

A Santa Fe woman with advanced uterine cancer said she is joining two doctors in their challenge against a decades-old New Mexico law. Lawyers on behalf of Aja Riggs, 48, intend to argue that the law does not legally prohibit doctors from ending the lives of terminally ill patients.

Boston Globe
“Cancer patient joins NM ‘right-to-die’ law”
May 9, 2012
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“Debate flares over assisted suicide”

prc — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:53:50 +0000

After consulting with the nonprofit Final Exit Network, she used helium and a plastic bag to end her life on the couch of her home in Apple Valley, Minn. Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom will present evidence to a grand jury this week, seeking indictments against the Georgia-based Final Exit Network and a handful of its members, accusing them of breaking state laws against aiding a suicide and interfering with a dead body.

Bellingham Herald
“Debate flares over assisted suicide”
May 7, 2012
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“‘Death with Dignity’ on the Massachusetts Ballot”

prc — Mon, 07 May 2012 20:53:50 +0000

The Massachusetts proposal attempts to mitigate coercion by doctors, health insurance companies, and family members, but this will always be a concern when the state dispenses the power to end life…. His wife took him for a last Heath Bar Blizzard at Dairy Queen…They served him toasted Haystack Bread, from a Canon Beach bakery, topped with his wife’s homemade raspberry jam. Around 8:30 that night, after everyone had said their goodbyes, he drank the Seconal solution from one of his favorite Scotch glasses.

American Thinker
“‘Death with Dignity’ on the Massachusetts Ballot”
May 6, 2012
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“Assisted suicide or murder?”

prc — Mon, 07 May 2012 20:31:26 +0000

Dan Gotlin, the lawyer for Kenneth Minor who was convicted of murder in the death of Jeffrey Locker, is planning to appeal Minor’s sentence by making a robust case for assisted suicide. Gotlin claims that if Locker was intent on committing suicide, Minor could shoot him, hang him, stab him, or throw him under the bus.

BioEdge
“Assisted suicide or murder?”
May 5, 2012
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“Motor neurone sufferer wins right to die after he made a living will by blinking his eye”

prc — Thu, 03 May 2012 20:37:41 +0000

The landmark decision is the first in which a judge at the Court of Protection, the division of the High Court which rules on life-and-death medical decisions, has approved a contested living will which calls for the death of a medical patient.

Mail Online
“Motor neurone sufferer wins right to die after he made a living will by blinking his eye”
May 1, 2012
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“Obama’s selective memory of Supreme Court history”

prc — Thu, 03 May 2012 20:30:29 +0000

Washington post gives President Obama two Pinocchios — which means creating “A false, misleading impression by playing with words and using legalistic language what means little to ordinary people” — for his comments about the pending Supreme Court decision.

Washington Post
“Obama’s selective memory of Supreme Court history”
April 9, 2012
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“Appendix removal: Huge sticker shock in study”

prc — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:20:01 +0000

What do hospitals charge to remove an appendix? The startling answer is that it could be the same as the price of a refrigerator — or a house. It’s a common, straightforward operation, so you might expect charges to be similar no matter where the surgery takes place. Yet a California study found huge disparities in patients’ bills — $1,500 to $180,000, with an average of $33,000.

Business Week
“Appendix removal: Huge sticker shock in study”
April 23, 2012
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