I write to respond to the oped by John Berkowitz and three Western Massachusetts legislators in support of assisted suicide bill H.1994 (Eagle, Sept. 11). Unsolvable problems with assisted suicide include the fact that terminal diagnoses are often wrong. Studies show that between 13 percent and 20 percent of people so diagnosed are not dying, …
Case for ‘death with dignity’ collapses under scrutiny Read More »
Watch now as Cecilia Sone, a nurse practitioner and trusted voice from our community, shares how to care for loved ones facing the end of life. Our families are too valuable to be pushed into suicide. Observen ahora cómo Cecilia Sone, una enfermera profesional y voz confiable de nuestra comunidad, comparte cómo cuidar a …
The Hippocratic Oath has been passed down through the ages because it contains some perennial wisdom: I will keep the sick from harm and injustice. I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asks for it, nor make a suggestion to this effect. The rabbis of the Talmud counseled centuries ago that no …
The AMA should reject physician-assisted suicide Read More »
Euthanasia, or “medical aid in dying”, was authorised by Canada’s Supreme Court in June 2016. It was a controversial decision and the controversy is far from over. Three issues were left hanging: euthanasia for “mature minors”, euthanasia for people with mental illness, and advance directives for euthanasia. The government asked the Council of Canadian …
I am a person with Cerebral Palsy and clinical depression. I’ve experienced life-threatening diabetic comas twice in the past few years. I have contemplated suicide throughout my life. I have been a disability advocate for over 30 years. During that time, I have fought for a better life in the community for hundreds of people who were …
Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) now stands at a tipping point in the United States. This practice involves a physician prescribing a non-FDA approved lethal overdose of drugs to a person believed to have a terminal illness. For 30 years, pro-assisted suicide organizations have been lobbying for legalization of assisted suicide throughout the U.S. In 1997, Oregon …
September 10 was World Suicide Prevention Day… But perhaps we should change that name to ‘World Prevent Just Some Suicides Day. A mere five days prior to the big event, two columns were published in major newspapers that, at the very least, present elder suicide in a sympathetic light or, one could even say, praise …
A 69-year-old man who has pleaded not guilty to assisting his wife to kill herself in 2014 had “1.4 million reasons” to intentionally help her end her life because she had three life insurance policies, a court has heard. Graham Robert Morant is on trial in the Supreme Court in Brisbane on two counts, including …
Patients in need of in-patient hospice care now have more options in Illinois, following a change in state law that notably will add services to the Joliet Area Community Hospice (JACH). Last month, Gov. Bruce Rauner signed legislation introduced in the House by State Representative Natalie Manley (D-Joliet) and the Senate by State Senator Jennifer …
An Ontario hospital that wants to discharge a suicidal man with a crippling brain disease threatened to start charging him $1,800 a day, and suggested his other options included medically assisted death, according to a new lawsuit. It also claims Canada’s new assisted dying laws are unconstitutional and should be struck down because they do …
Denied ‘assisted life,’ chronically-ill Ontario man is offered death instead: lawsuit Read More »