Category Archives: News

With the state’s intensified focus on affordable care and additional cuts projected for Medicaid and Medicare, the government health insurance programs for low-income residents and seniors, the future of many hospitals across the state is uncertain. IN some cases, their … Continue reading →

The next logical ObamaCare cost-saving step would be to have the patient fill out his own yes-no computer-questionnaire, There are not enough primary care physicians to fulfill the law’s mandate, and dispensing with the physician interview would conserve scarce resources. … Continue reading →

A group of Massachusetts residents with disabilities opposing legalized assisted suicide are asking Massachusetts voters to have “second thoughts” when they vote on Question 2 in November. Second Thoughts says it encourages voters “to look at assisted suicide in the … Continue reading →

Euthanasia advocate Philip Nitschke faces a second inquiry that could lead to his being barred from medical practice, after authorities were notified of the use of a sham beer-brewing company to import nitrogen cylinders capable of being used for suicide.  … Continue reading →

The late Jack Kevorkian, a saint to some and a demon to others, was the controversial proponent of physician-assisted suicide for the dying and ill. This November, Kevorkian comes to the Commonwealth, or the spirit of the man at least, … Continue reading →

There is a huge difference between withdrawing medical treatment in terminal cases and actively helping someone to die, especially when the patient – as in many of these cases – is not actually dying. It’s clear from the debate at … Continue reading →

A 12-year-old boy, Zach Fernandez, was secretly denied food and water and life-saving treatment while at a hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. His doctor also slipped a “do not resuscitate” order into the boy’s chart without the knowledge and consent … Continue reading →

A paralysed man who fought to overturn Britain’s ban on assisted suicide died today from pneumonia less than a week after losing his controversial court case. Nicklinson planned to appeal the court ruling, but his health quickly deteriorated.  He “died … Continue reading →

If an elderly woman can be bullied into turning over her social security check, why doesn’t Donovan understand that it is possible to pressure her into making a request for a lethal dose and bullying her into taking it? Burlington … Continue reading →

The question before the court in New Mexico is absurdly simple and yet impossibly complex. What is the meaning of “assisting suicide.” Denver Post “Assisted suicide: New Mexico court asked to redefine the term” August 19, 2012 View

A man paralysed from the neck down has lost his High Court case to allow doctors to end his life without fear of prosecution.  The court stated, “It is not for the court to decide whether the law about assisted … Continue reading →

A top Dutch medical professional says some British doctors carry out euthanasia, even though a UK court has again ruled that killing a chronically ill person is illegal.  “The practice is done everywhere. In England they’re doing it too,” said … Continue reading →

The world’s foremost euthanasia clinic, Dignitas, is to sue the Swiss police after their officers tried to revive a terminally ill woman who fell asleep during an assisted suicide. Mail Online “Assisted suicide firm Dignitas to sue Swiss police for … Continue reading →

Tony Nicklinson and another “locked-in syndrome” sufferer named only as Martin accused the courts of condemning them to a life of “misery” and “torture.”  The two men, who are almost completely paralysed but fully conscious following catastrophic strokes, brought separate … Continue reading →

A notorious bioethics journal has published a piercing attack on the right of Christians and other religious believers to make crucial end-of-life medical decisions for their own children.  The title, “Should Religious Beliefs Be Allowed to Stonewall a Secular Approach … Continue reading →

“Predictions really apply to groups of people, not individuals…Physicians can’t possibly know whether someone will fall into the  95% of patients who die or the 5% of patients who beat the odds.” The Hospitalist “Estimating End-of-Life for Hospitalized Patients” August … Continue reading →

[T]hey are making the choice not because they are in pain… In the summer of 2010, after a bout of pneumonia and with doctors agreeing that he most likely had only six months to live, Dr. Wesley got his prescription … Continue reading →

Ms. Dunn would prefer her son die in a more humane way and be euthanased with drugs. She said the laws must be changed to allow families in her position to have access to euthanasia. “I’m starving my son to … Continue reading →

A B.C. woman who won a personal exemption from Canada’s ban on doctor-assisted suicide will keep that right as the case makes its way through the province’s Appeal Court. CTV News “Court upholds B. B. woman’s right to assisted suicide” … Continue reading →

“The Los Angeles Times has been at the forefront of an effort to discuss end-of-life-issues, with our columnist Steve Lopez leading the way.” Los Angeles Times “Mercy killings, suicide: ‘Social challenges’ to be faced as U.S. ages” August 10, 2012 … Continue reading →

A Colombian Senate commission on Thursday approved the regulation of euthanasia 15 years after its decriminalization. [Note:  The decriminalization was put on hold pending approval of regulations.] “Colombian senate approves regulation of euthanasia” Colombia Reports August 9, 2012 View

“We should focus on excellence of hospice and palliative care not euthanasia” The Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine Inc., (ANZSPM) believes that the practice of euthanasia and assisted suicide are outside the discipline of Palliative Medicine. “Response … Continue reading →

What’s the cost of freedom for one Colorado family? Apparently, according to the Obama administration, it’s nearly $10 million per year….Protecting freedom of conscience is in keeping with Colorado’s long-held frontier spirit, as well as the ethics that have guarded … Continue reading →

In an unusual partnership, a nonprofit health plan that employs its own doctors is joining with a major Catholic hospital system in the Pacific northwest to provide more efficient health care services to members of all health plans in the … Continue reading →

A row has blown up within the government about possible changes to German assisted suicide laws, after the justice minister said she wanted to enable not just relatives but also doctors and friends to help people to die. Health spokesman, … Continue reading →