EuthaNEWSia Headlines

Georgia: Grand jury indicts members of assisted suicide network

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:13:00 GMT

Georgia: Grand jury indicts members of assisted suicide network

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Tags: prosecution; Final Exit Network; Georgia; U.S.A.

Description:

A Forsyth County Grand jury said four members of the right-to-die group, the Final Exit Network, operated a criminal enterprise that helped people die. An indictment returned Tuesday charges the Final Exit Network along with co-founder Thomas "Ted" Goodwin, 64, of Kennesaw and Punta Gorda, Fla.; Claire Blehr, 77, of Atlanta; and Dr. Lawrence Egbert, 82, and Nicholas Alec Sheridan, 61, of Baltimore with violating Georgia's RICO Act, assisting a suicide and tampering with evidence. The four are to be arraigned in Forsyth Superior Court on April 1.

The indictment - the first of its kind in Georgia - was returned more than a year after the four were arrested for allegedly helping John Celmer, 58, die by breathing helium pumped into a plastic hood secured over his head. The four also were allegedly involved in helping plan the suicide of an undercover Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent who was claiming to have pancreatic cancer. All four have been free on bond since the arrests on Feb. 25, 2009.

[Note: Some other recent stories related to this topic are in the Links: section below.]

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)

Canada: Some would welcome merciful release from their suffering

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:13:00 GMT

Canada: Some would welcome merciful release from their suffering

The Stratford Beacon Herald_
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Tags: euthanasia; Bill C-384, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (right to die with dignity); Canada

Description:

Michelle McAndrew writes in support of legalizing euthanasia: I am approaching the 80-year mark in 2011. I am currently in a nursing home because of some physical limitations which prevent me from living alone. I'm certainly not enjoying the loss of independence or the chronic pain of 30 years duration. At first hand I can describe the waning years of 45 to 50 people, some of whom have severe dementia and others who "suffer" from worsening physical disabilities…

In concluding McAndrew says: Can you imagine the calculated savings of health care in Canada? Growing "old," although certainly often a frightening aspect of life, would not be so feared if an easier way out were possible. No doubt the issue of euthanasia will not be resolved in my lifetime, but the solution, if a person made this decision, could be his or her last form of independence!

[Note: Some other recent stories related to this topic are in the Links: section below.]

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)

Julian Baggini: Suicide can be a rational choice

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:45:00 GMT

Julian Baggini: Suicide can be a rational choice

The Independent
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Monday, March 8, 2010
Tags: suicide; ethics; euthanasia

Description:

In reviewing the arguments against rational suicide, Julian Baggini, editor of The Philosophers' Magazine writes that some people "argue that anyone who judges that they are better off dead has got to be mistaken. They're depressed but they don't realise it, or they have misjudged what the future is likely to hold. This is deeply patronising to the many men and women who have decided that life with their terminal conditions is not worth living. To say that they are just mistaken is to say we are better judges of the value of other people's lives than they are themselves. This is not compassion but arrogance.

The irony here is that people often object to euthanasia because they think that it entails some kind of judgement on the value of others' lives. A severely disabled person who chooses to die, so it is argued, sends out the message that a severely disabled life is not worth living. But it does no such thing. The person who decides that their life is not worth living under such circumstances is saying nothing about the value of someone else's life in similar circumstances. To use a trivial example but a structurally identical one, if I walk out of a Lady Gaga concert, I'm not saying it's not worth anyone else staying. The suicide who walks out on life is likewise not saying everyone else has to follow.

Others claim that every suicide represents a failure of society to provide the conditions that would make life bearable. But by making a suicide the responsibility of others, it denies the responsibility each of us has for ourselves. Such a response is also a way of simply avoiding considering the serious possibility that sometimes suicide may indeed be a rational choice, which is precisely the possibility I think we find it hard to countenance."

[Note: Some other recent stories related to this topic are in the Links: section below.]

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)

Washington: Why some couldn't die on their own terms

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:45:00 GMT

Washington: Why some couldn't die on their own terms

The Seattle Times
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Monday, March 8, 2010
Tags: assisted suicide; Death With Dignity Act; Washington; U.S.A.

Description:

This report explains why some patients in the state of Washington are still unable to achieve a dignified death, a year after the Death With Dignity law went into effect. For these people, time runs out, and they suffer the kind of death they sought to avoid, because:

Discussion with doctors are not frank. Patients are reluctant to be blunt in their requests, and doctors evade the issue. Patients do not realize that any answer from a doctor but "yes" means "no". This often results in a frantic last-minute search when patients realize their regular doctor is not going to help.
Doctors typically over-estimate how long the patient has to live.
Some hospices and hospitals, particularly Catholic ones, will not allow any staff or facilities to be involved at any stage.
Many patients do not realize the process takes four to six weeks, if all the paperwork and permissions go well.

[Note: Some other recent stories related to this topic are in the Links: section below.]

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)

Washington Death with Dignity: 63 people got lethal meds, 36 took them

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:23:00 GMT

Washington Death with Dignity: 63 people got lethal meds, 36 took them

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Friday, March 5, 2010
Tags: assisted suicide; Compassion & Choices; Death With Dignity Act; Washington; U.S.A.

Description:

Both the states of Washington and Oregon (Oregon item is below) have released the annual reports on their Death with Dignity Acts. This report is of a news conference by Compassion & Choices in Washington. In the first nine months of Washington's Death with Dignity Act, 63 terminally ill patients received lethal medication to end their lives. Thirty-six — or more than half — died from ingesting it. Complications while taking the medication occurred in three people. Those were the findings released Thursday morning in a state Department of Health report on the law, which allows physicians to prescribe lethal medication to patients who have six months or less to live. Passed by voters in 2008, the assisted-suicide law went into effect a year ago this Friday.

The report, which analyzed patient use only for 2009, found that 53 doctors had written 63 prescriptions. It found that 48 percent of patients had been under their doctor's care for less than six months. At least one patient had been with a doctor for only three weeks. The report found that a total of 47 people who took part in the law had died, some from their underlying illness. Of them, nearly 80 percent had cancer, nearly 90 percent had some type of insurance, and more than 60 percent had some college education.

[Note: Some other recent stories related to this topic are in the Links: section below.]

[Note: there are stories in the Overflow: section below.]

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)

Pro-euthanasia bid for South Australian Upper House

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:23:00 GMT

Pro-euthanasia bid for South Australian Upper House

Australian Broadcasting Corporation
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Friday, March 5, 2010
Tags: election; euthanasia; voluntary euthanasia; Christian; South Australia; Australia

Description:

Another Christian group is standing for the Legislative Council in the South Australian election, to counter the influence of Family First and push the case for voluntary euthanasia. Christians for Voluntary Euthanasia claims to be the first religious organisation in the world to stand on the controversial platform.

One of its two candidates, Reverend Craig de Vos, says it is time for a balanced debate and to help push voluntary euthanasia laws through parliament. "In some cases the best outcome for life is a dignified and good death and at the moment a lot of people don't get that," he said. Reverend de Vos is keen to revive legislation last put forward by Greens MP Mark Parnell. He thinks 'death with dignity' is supported by many Christians.

[Note: Some other recent stories related to this topic are in the Links: section below.]

[Note: there are stories in the Overflow: section below.]

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)

Ireland: Nitschke will hold "Assisted suicide meeting"

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:17:00 GMT

Ireland: Nitschke will hold "Assisted suicide meeting"

The Irish Times
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Tags: assisted suicide; euthanasia; self-deliverance; Philip Nitschke; Exit International; Ireland

Description:

Dr Philip Nitschke will be holding an Exit International self-deliverance workshop in Ireland on March 19th, using the same format as in the past. Last April (see item below), a public lecture by a member of the British Medical Association's ethics committee on the issues around legalization of euthanasia was disrupted by protestors who chanted and occupied the stage. From The Irish Times:

CONTROVERSIAL Australian assisted suicide advocate Philip Nitschke is planning to hold his first public meeting and workshop in Dublin later this month. Dr Nitschke's group, Exit International, provoked uproar in Britain when it tried to hold such meetings and some were cancelled. He said he was coming to Ireland because, over the years, Exit had received "significant interest" from older people in Ireland wanting information about their end-of-life choices. The meeting is set for March 19th.

He said he would have Ireland's new blasphemy laws in his sights when he came here. Since last month, blasphemy is a crime, punishable by a fine of up to EUR25,000. Dr Nitschke said it was "almost impossible" to talk about a person's right to die without offending some section of the religious community.

[Note: Some other recent stories related to this topic are in the Links: section below.]

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)

Britain: Terminally ill "unable to die at home through lack of nursing cover"

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:17:00 GMT

Britain: Terminally ill "unable to die at home through lack of nursing cover"

Times Online
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Tags: terminally ill; end-of-life care; Britain

Description:

A lack of 24-hour nursing cover and poor planning by doctors is threatening government plans to give the terminally ill a right to die at home, campaigners say. More than a third of family doctors are not reviewing the needs and wishes of dying patients, while round-the-clock nursing care is not available to give patients support and pain relief at weekends and at night in many areas. The shortfalls mean that thousands of patients suffering from conditions such as cancer are taken into hospital or hospices to die when they would rather stay at home, according to the charity Macmillan Cancer Support…

Peter Carter, the general secretary of the RCN, said: "Sadly it is often the case that patients at the end of their lives are admitted to hospital in the middle of the night simply due to the unavailability of district nursing services." Anna Dixon, the acting chief executive of the King's Fund, a healthcare charity, said that such cases should have access to basic medical care within an hour, "in whatever setting and whatever time of day or night".

[Note: Some other recent stories related to this topic are in the Links: section below.]

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)