Assisted suicide advocates from western Massachusetts held a meeting in Worcester to promote the End of Life Options Act. I attended because, as a physician assistant, I am concerned about protecting my vulnerable patients. They had a hard time answering my questions. “Why six months when...
As Canada considers legalizing child euthanasia, one ethicist warns it would be a mistake to think the practice will never make its way into the United States. In every country that has legalized euthanasia upon request, save for one, doctors are now killing children. Wesley J....
Giving Tuesday kicks off the charitable season, when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving. This is a global day of giving back, where you’ll have the chance to join people around the world to celebrate generosity, sowing acts of kindness and make an impact...
Three doctors who certified a woman as autistic so that she could die by euthanasia are set to go on trial in Belgium. The sisters of Tine Nys told investigators that her suffering was caused instead by a broken heart after a failed relationship, and that...
These are perilous times for tottering toward old ladydom. The women's mags cut your life support at 50 unless you're Helen Mirren, sooner if you're not, in which case you might as well sign up for the Philip Nitschke death machine, with optional funeral casket. What...
Diane Coleman is president and CEO of a group called Not Dead Yet that opposes physician-assisted suicide. “There’s no way to avoid the fact that some people will have their lives ended without their consent through mistakes, coercion and abuse.” After the Joint Commission on Health Care...
Laws against the killing of patients vindicate and uphold every person's right to life, especially that of the terminally ill or vulnerable. Medical practice complements these noble goals by preserving life and restoring health. The raison d'etre of palliative care is to improve quality of life and...
Three Southeast hospitals are partnering with the University of Alabama at Birmingham on a study to determine whether a telehealth platform can improve palliative care options for rural African-Americans. Community hospitals in Aiken, S.C., Alexander City, Ala., and Picayune, Miss., will coordinate the connected health project...
Ninety-three-year-old Vic Ide was having serious health problems last winter. His family thinks a chance meeting with another Navy veteran may have saved his life. “I saw the world and the ship was like a mother. It took care of you,” Joe Keilen said. For Joe, the...
A Michigan family says a nurse's gift of singing to an elderly patient in hospice may have helped him take a turn for the better. Watch the video here...