Steven Drake of the disability rights group Not Dead Yet has written two great articles reacting to the news of 45 year old deaf twins who were “voluntarily” euthananized in Belgium because they were going blind. The men were not terminally ill, yet they met the Belgian legal criteria for euthanasia because of the "grave and incurable suffering" they experienced from knowing … [Read more...] about More on Blindness and Deafness as Reasons Not to Live
True Dignity
Hospice Does Not Equal Good Pain Relief (And Other Thoughts)
On Friday, January 11, 2013, the New York Times ran a wonderful story about a nurse who spent the last weeks of her life teaching student nurses about dying, answering their questions and letting them both observe and care for her until nine days before she died of pancreatic cancer. The article, which can be read at … [Read more...] about Hospice Does Not Equal Good Pain Relief (And Other Thoughts)
Shumlin Notwithstanding, Vermonters Will Not Allow Assisted Suicide to Pass in 2013
We were on vacation when newly re-elected governor Peter Shumlin made a widely-reported statement last week that he believes so-called "death with dignity" legislation will pass in Vermont in the next legislative session (http://www.vermontpressbureau.com/pot-decrim-and-death-with-dignity-according-to-shumlin-were-going-to-get-them-done/). The same article reported that … [Read more...] about Shumlin Notwithstanding, Vermonters Will Not Allow Assisted Suicide to Pass in 2013
“It will quite literally be easier to get a lethal prescription in Massachusetts than to have hospice care through the end of your life.”
Ira Byock, director of palliative care at Dartmouth, has spoken out again against assisted suicide in Massachusetts (http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2012/10/paliiative-care-assisted-suicide#more-23626). In a guest post on CommonHealth, the health blog of Boston radio station WBUR, he writes: We’ll still require terminally ill patients to give up treatment for their disease … [Read more...] about “It will quite literally be easier to get a lethal prescription in Massachusetts than to have hospice care through the end of your life.”
Legal Assisted Suicide Threatens Pharmacists as well as Physicians
A pharmacist friend of ours tells us that he once filled a prescription that was used to commit suicide, though it was prescribed for another purpose. He says he continues to be haunted by the fact that he provided the means for another person's death. This story illustrates two facts. The first is that it isn't very hard to commit suicide using commonly prescribed … [Read more...] about Legal Assisted Suicide Threatens Pharmacists as well as Physicians