EuthaNEWSia (www.euthanewsia.ca)

http://tinyurl.com/38cug4j

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Call-for-a-39toe-in.6400111.jp

Also see:

Scotland: Euthanasia - "The issue is not going to go away quietly" [Scotsman.com]
http://news.scotsman.com/opinion/Euthanasia—The-issue-is.6400165.jp

The editors of the Scotsman end their editorial with:
However, the status quo cannot be said to be working either. Not when people feel the only way they can die with dignity is to travel abroad to do so, when their loved ones face the threat of prosecution upon returning home, and when a family doctor can admit to taking such life and death decisions without his patients' knowledge, as one did in England this week.

In the circumstances, there is a lot of merit in the Royal Society of Edinburgh's proposal that the results of any introduction of some form of assisted dying should be reviewed after an agreed limited time period. It is an idea that deserves serious consideration.

Scotland: Making sense of Margo Macdonald [The EXIT euthanasia blog]
http://exiteuthanasia.wordpress.com/2010/07/05/making-sense-of-margo-macdonald/

The EXIT blog reviews two wildly exaggerated media stories: the "thousands" of Scots opposing Margo Macdonald's End of Life Assistance Bill, and the "massive increase in euthanasia" in the Netherlands. Excerpts:

Where exactly are the ‘thousands’ of protests and the ‘sackfuls’ of complaints quoted so egregiously in the newspapers? A brief look at the Submissions received in response to call for written evidence lists just over 600 submissions, either from individuals or organisations. This includes almost 40 anonymous ones but not those who have asked that their submissions not be published. It still doesn't add up to ‘thousands.’ The Catholic Church, for instance, represents the Vatican's views, as digested by its clergy, not persons born into the faith. Many of the ‘bioethics’ and anti-euthanasia groups are carbon copies of individuals posing as concerned groups of many. Most tellingly, campaigners from Care Not Killing handed over 14,000 of their own protest postcards. A good newspaper story, even if not very indicative of truth. The real statistics haven't changed.

Slippery slopes? Newspapers rely on attention-grabbing headlines. Many of them have reported a massive increase in euthanasia in the Netherlands, when it is merely and clearly an increase in the efficiency of the reporting procedure.

Scotland: Malnutrition of NHS patients "is form of euthanasia" [Herald Scotland]
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/health/malnutrition-of-nhs-patients-is-form-of-euthanasia-1.1039063

This report concerns patients suffering from malnutrition because NHS hospitals are sometimes so understaffed that staff cannot take the time to help patients eat and drink:

One of the country's leading health campaigners has urged the Scottish Government to urgently tackle the problem of malnutrition of the elderly and vulnerable in the nation's hospitals, likening the problem to a form of "euthanasia". Dr Jean Turner - executive director of Scotland Patients Association (SPA), a GP and former independent MSP - warned that hundreds of patients, particularly the elderly, are languishing in hospital beds undernourished because they are not given help with feeding.

She says nursing staff are often reluctant to air their concerns about patient welfare because of a fear of repercussions from senior management. A recent report estimated that 50,000 patients are dying each year in NHS hospitals in a state of malnutrition, which may have hastened their end. New figures released by the British Dietetics Association earlier this week revealed that the problem costs Scotland's health boards around -L-1.3 billion each year. The SPA's warning follows a report by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, which was highly critical of a Lanarkshire hospital's care of a 66-year-old patient.

assisted suicide

Margo MacDonald

End of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill (SP Bill 38)

Scotland

Britain

There are two changes in typography in this issue, which are an attempt to make the story descriptions easier to read. Full-size type is used throughout, with the editorial comments in italics and with excerpted material coloured navy blue. Let me know (editor@euthanewsia.ca) if this causes new problems for anyone.

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