"Miracle" as Baby Begins Breathing after Two Hours

"Miracle" as Baby Begins Breathing after Two Hours: Doctors were baffled in April when a premature baby boy whom they had pronounced dead appeared to come back to life after two hours of being held by his mother. Staff had given child, Jamie, a twin, to his mother to hold and to “say goodbye” after the 27-week gestation boy had been pronounced dead. The attending doctor had spent 20 minutes after the birth trying to get the boy to breathe.

But Kate Ogg and husband David now say that they fear their son, who was born with his twin sister Emily, may be brain damaged or suffer other long-term medical complications because their doctor didn’t believe them when the boy showed what the parents believed were signs of life.

PA Court: Guardians Can't Pull Plug on Mentally Disabled

Pennsylvania Court: Guardians Can't Pull the Plug on Mentally Disabled People: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has determined that state law requires life-preserving treatment for people who are not near death and have not refused treatment. The Alliance Defense Fund and allied pro-life attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of 53-year-old David Hockenberry, who has had acute mental disabilities since birth, arguing that his legal guardians should not be allowed to deny him life-preserving treatment while he is not terminal or unconscious. Hockenberry’s guardians unsuccessfully attempted to deny him temporary life-preserving medical treatment for pneumonia.

Al Pacino Wins Emmy for Movie on Kevorkian

Al Pacino Wins Emmy Award for Movie on Euthanasia Advocate Jack Kevorkian: During his acceptance speech, Al Pacino praised Kevorkian, a retired pathologist credited with killing more than 100 people in assisted suicides before the state of Michigan made the practice illegal. Pacino called Kevorkian 'brilliant and interesting and unique' and the euthanasia advocate received a round of applause from the audience after he stood up to accept Pacino's recognition.

Hong Kong euthanasia plea man goes home

BBC News - Hong Kong euthanasia plea man goes home: Tang Siu-pun was rehearsing for a gymnastics display in 1991 when he fell, badly injuring his spine; he became paralysed from the neck down. In 2004, he used a chopstick in his mouth to type his appeal to Hong Kong's chief executive and legislators, letter by letter, asking for help to let him die. Assisted suicide is illegal in Hong Kong, but his appeal prompted widespread media coverage and debate.

Donations poured in to pay taxi fares for his father to visit him every day in hospital to feed him his favourite soup. Other wheelchair-bound quadriplegic people appealed to him to value life so that he could educate others. Tang Siu-pun later changed his mind and said he wanted to live, but he still believes that the choice to live or die is a basic human right.

As Memories Slip Away, A Grandfather Reflects

As Memories Slip Away, A Grandfather Reflects : NPR: Bob Patterson was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2008. His wife, Karen, has been by his side all along. Recently, Bob told her how living with the disease has affected him.

"I feel like I'm the same person, but I know I'm kind of a big load to deal with," Bob says with a laugh.

"You know how we talk sometimes about who we really are — what is our essence?" Karen says. "Memories are not who you are."

"Well, I think one thing that I experience with Alzheimer's is, I live in the moment — because I can't remember what happened yesterday. I can't remember what happened 10 minutes ago. But I'm much more present, I think."

"Do you think about the future?" Karen asks her husband.

"I know that there's probably a bad time that comes in the future," says Bob. "This disease gets more wicked — but I don't obsess on it, and I just do a nice job of ignoring it.

"With this disease, you moved from somebody that lived in your head a lot to somebody that lives in their heart," Karen says.

"The head is an overstated organ," Bob says, drawing a laugh from Karen. He continues: "The heart is where all the action is. And I can remember things that occur in my heart much better than things that occur in my head: having fun with the kids; laughing; our new grandchild."

Dad recovers from ‘locked-in’ syndrome

Dad recovers from ‘locked-in’ syndrome | News | The Christian Institute: Graham Miles, who felt he had been “left to die” by medical staff, was suffering from ‘locked-in syndrome’ after having a massive stroke. But now the resilient 66-year-old is walking and talking, and has even taken up motor racing as a hobby. Critics say this case raises serious questions about assisted suicide and the assumption that completely paralysed patients can never recover.

Hospital withholds food, water from Christian pastor

Hospital withholds food, water from Christian pastor: It's been more than a week since pastor Joshua Kulendran Mayandy has been given food or water at a Brampton, Canada, hospital where he is being treated for a brain impairment following a heart attack. The medical facility's officials are following a determination that he will get his next sustenance only when he can ask the doctor for it.

Doctor's Faith May Affect End-of-Life Care

Doctor's Faith May Affect End-of-Life Care - ABC News: Physicians in the U.K. who reported being very or extremely religious were less likely to endorse certain end-of-life decisions, including continuous deep sedation and initiation of treatment that would be expected to shorten life.

Care Pages community forum

Taking Care of Mom User JMarilyn wrote: "I am 58 and take care of my Mom, who is 85. I also take care of her sister, who is 81. They live with me. I don't begrudge one minute of helping these two precious ladies. And yet, I am so tired and I have no help ..." Read what others have written and offer your advice to a selfless caregiver.

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Stop the Boredom!
Blogger ChristyL wrote: "My dad is currently fighting lung cancer. He is, thankfully, taking it pretty well. In the meantime, he's 'bored.' Does anyone have any suggestions on some fun, easy activities we can plan?"
Read what others have written and share your favorite activities.

Simples Ways to Show Someone You Care - CarePages.com

Kind Gestures and Ways to Show Someone You Care - CarePages.com: When illness strikes, you may be too pre-occupied to show your loved ones that you care. But patients and caregivers alike always appreciate a loving and kind gesture.

Get Creative! Art encourages healing

Get Creative!: Expressive therapies don’t just apply to kids. Plenty of adults are using the power of creativity to free their healing spirit, too — everyone from patients to caregivers to the medical staff who care for them. The philosophy is simple: It can help to express your fears and concerns in a safe, supportive environment through the power of art, music, writing and/or dance. More and more major medical centers nationwide are taking part. In a 2008 survey, the Society for the Arts in Healthcare reported that more than half of its 2,500 member hospitals offered arts-based programs.

The latest from Caring Right at Home

• Extreme Collecting: Seniors and Hoarding
• In-Home Care Supports Caregiver Wellness
• Alzheimer's Caregiver Tips: Helping Your Loved One Dress
• Walking is Powerful Medicine for Seniors of Every Age
• Music, Memory and Emotion

New York Law Encourages Frank Talk on Palliative Care

Personal Health - New York Law Encourages Frank Talk on Palliative Care - NYTimes.com: Legislators have begun to recognize the medical, humanitarian and economic value of helping terminally ill patients and their families navigate treatment options as they approach the end of life.

Who should decide when care is futile?

Who should decide when care is futile? | Philadelphia Inquirer | 08/19/2010: Ruben Betancourt died on May 29, 2009. Last week, a New Jersey appellate court declined to rule on the heated dispute that had broken out between his family and a North Jersey hospital over stopping his medical care prior to his death. It's not often that the nonruling of a court holds national significance. But the state Appellate Division's punt in this case merits our attention.

Editor: It is unconscionable that a hospital whose carelessness caused this terrible situation should also be allowed to determine the value of continuing treatment. Also, this case shows that people die on life-support. Maintaining life-support does not necessarily "needlessly prolonging life."

New UK pro-death society

A new right-to-die society has sprung up in the UK. The Society for Old Age Rational Suicide (SOARS) wants to press the case for assisted suicide for people who are not terminally ill. “After eight or nine decades, many people rightly decide that their lives have been fully lived, and now they have a life which, for them, has finally become too long,” its website declares. The leader of the group is 79-year-old Michael Irwin, who is now being dubbed “Dr Death” by the British media. He is a controversial figure who was deregistered as a doctor after he helped a friend to die in 2005. He admits having helped several people to commit suicide. Telegraph

Editor: Makes me want to come up with a more appropriate acronym -- SORES, Suicide of Rebellious Elderly . . . help me out.

Twisted concepts in pain relief

Pro-life news and information from American Life League: Today the lines are blurring at such a rapid rate that there is open discussion about terminal sedation as merely a type of palliative treatment. Pro-life advocate Ron Panzer, from Hospice Patients Alliance, explains,

'The new use of “terminal sedation” intentionally to end lives is the “Third Way” used in many hospices, some hospitals and elsewhere. This misuse of terminal sedation involves the sedating of patients who are not terminally agitated, delusional or psychotic and have no clinical need to be sedated. They are sedated into a coma where they obviously are not conscious enough to safely eat or drink. They are intentionally denied nutrition and liquids orally because to do so would cause aspiration of the materials into the lungs. Since this type of 'terminal sedation' keeps the patient comatose permanently, they die of dehydration.'

In other words, a patient can be left to die of dehydration with the explanation that these drugs are necessary in order to keep the patient comfortable. Who would know the difference?"

Brampton Civic hospital imposes euthanasia by dehydration through pressure tactics

Brampton Civic hospital imposes euthanasia by dehydration through pressure tactics: Joshua (Kulendran Mayandi), the pastor of a small Christian church in Brampton, who is not otherwise dying, is being dehydrated to death (euthanasia by omission). This is not a case when hydration and nutrition need to be withdrawn because he is actually dying and nearing death, but rather the decision appears to have been made to intentionally cause his death by withdrawing IV hydration and nutrition because he is unlikely to recover from his disability.

Medical care facts and fables

Thomas Sowell: There is so much political spin, and so many numbers games being played, when it comes to medical care, that we have to go back to square one and the simplest common sense, in order to get some rational idea of what government-run medical care means. In particular, we need to examine the claim that the government can 'bring down the cost of medical care.' The most basic fact is that it is cheaper to remain sick than to get medical treatment. What is cheapest of all is to die instead of getting life-saving medications and treatment, which can be very expensive.

Support is Important

Reports from a Resident Alien - Support is Important: Parents of autistics, and families who are caretakers for disabled people in general, aren't supported nearly enough. They often have to advocate pretty hard to get the assistance they need; and in some cases they may never be able to get it.

Editor: This is a good blog for learning what it's like to have autism. See also her list of 10 things you should know about autism.

Autism Gives Woman An 'Alien View' Of Social Brains : NPR

Autism Gives Woman An 'Alien View' Of Social Brains : NPR: Humans have succeeded in part because we evolved a brain with a remarkable capacity for this type of complex social interaction. We automatically respond to social cues and facial expressions. We can look at the world from another person's point of view. We are predisposed to cooperate. But all these things are so much a part of us, they're easy to take for granted. Unless you have autism, like Lisa Daxer.

The People Who 'ARE'

Rolling Around In My Head: The People Who 'ARE': People mock the concept of respectful language regarding disability. People make odd arguments about the latest gaffe [using the 'R' word]. . . . Yet the debate rages on and the fierceness of the attack by those who are proponents of the use of hate language are both hysterical and who often purposely miss the point. One wonders what's at stake - their personal liberty to hurt others?

Video: BBC’s Gosling charged with wasting police time

Video: BBC’s Gosling charged with wasting police time | News | The Christian Institute: Ray Gosling, a BBC presenter who claimed on TV to have ended the life of his homosexual lover in a ‘mercy killing’, has been charged with wasting police time.
Mr Gosling had claimed that he had smothered his same-sex lover as the man lay seriously ill in hospital with AIDS. But doubts soon emerged over his story. A source close to the police also criticised the BBC for airing the program without checking whether Mr Gosling’s claims were correct.

At the time the BBC programme was the latest in a series of high profile assisted suicide programmes broadcast by the Corporation. And it came after a group of MPs accused the broadcaster of conducting a “multi-million pound campaign” to promote euthanasia. BBC producers who privately knew about the confession for two months also failed to notify the police.

Suicide Pacts Rise Among Elderly, Sometimes as Act of Love or Bad Economy

Suicide Pacts Rise Among Elderly, Sometimes as Act of Love or Bad Economy - ABC News: 'Suicide among the elderly is often pre-planned, especially if there is a long-term illness,' said Doree Lynn, a Washington, D.C., psychologist and author.
'Sometimes it's done strictly out of illness and depression, but if it's an act of love, they have been through life and death and raised their children and gone through being married for better or worse,' she said. 'With a long-term couple, they say, "Let us die together.''' Society needs to be more tolerant of these choices, Lynn said, but at the same time, 'We can't put our seniors out on an iceberg like the Eskimos.'

'Days With My Father': A Photographic Farewell

'Days With My Father': A Photographic Farewell : The Picture Show : NPR: 'Days With My Father' is the visual diary that Phillip Toledano kept during his father's last years. It chronicles the struggle of a widower with memory loss, and the struggle of a son's transition from child to care-taker.

Hospice of Michigan 30th Birthday Celebration

Hospice of Michigan 30th Birthday Celebration: Hospice of Michigan's 30th Birthday Celebration featuring Ace of Cakes Duff Goldman, Food Network Celebrity Chef
WHEN: Wednesday, September 15 at 7pm
WHERE: DeVos Performance Hall 303 Monroe NW - Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Disingenuous Peter Singer Tries to Wiggle Out of Infanticide Scorn � Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog

Disingenuous Peter Singer Tries to Wiggle Out of Infanticide Scorn � Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: Peter Singer pretends that his call for allowing infanticide is merely about preventing the suffering of infants with ultimately terminal conditions, and limited to situations in which a decision has been made by parents and doctors to let them die by withdrawing life-extending medical treatment.

US breast cancer drug decision 'marks start of death panels'

US breast cancer drug decision 'marks start of death panels' - Telegraph: The FDA advisory panel has now voted 12-1 to drop the endorsement for breast cancer treatment. The panel unusually cited 'effectiveness' grounds for the decision. But it has been claimed that 'cost effectiveness' was the real reason ahead of reforms in which the government will extend health insurance to the poorest. If the approval of the drug is revoked then US insurers would be likely to stop paying for Avastin.

MS Symptoms in the Workplace

MS Symptoms in the Workplace - Multiple Sclerosis Center - EverydayHealth.com: People living with multiple sclerosis (MS) know that some days are easy, but that MS symptoms can make others very difficult. The desire, however, to be productive and keep working remains the same. The good news is that it is very possible to continue to work after a diagnosis of MS, but it is also helpful to be aware of the options you have when MS symptoms start to make things more difficult to manage.

Church for the Homebound

Church for the Homebound | Questions and Answers | Caring.com: My father use to attend services every Sunday. He recently had surgery and is now home, but very weak. My brothers and I have been taking care of him in turns, but I know he wishes he could go to church. Any ideas on what we can do since physically he just can’t manage that much moving around and probably won’t be able to for awhile?

Swiss Justice Minister wants assisted suicide for non-terminally ill

The Swiss are thinking of liberalizing their liberal legislation on assisted suicide. At the moment, assisted suicide is legal so long as the helper is motivated by altruism, although the legality of helping people who are not terminally ill is unclear. Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf is thinking of extending the scope of assisted suicide rather than reducing it. She said, "we want assisted suicide not only for the terminally ill, but others as well... We cannot simply exclude the chronically ill from assisted suicide. It should be permitted under certain conditions." She plans to present new proposals to the parliament. BioEdge 

Assisted suicide has been allowed in Switzerland since the 1940s if performed by someone who has no vested interest in the death. Swissinfo, Aug 8 

Myths and Facts of Joint Pain

Myths and Facts of Joint Pain - Arthritis - Everyday Health: What's really going on with your aches and pain?

Financial Elder Abuse – How Do We Stop It?

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition: Financial Elder Abuse – How Do We Stop It?: There’s no excuse for the abuse meted out to anybody, be it a child, an adult, or an elder. It’s worse in the case of children and the elderly because they’re helpless to prevent it and overwhelmed by the whole experience. In the case of the elderly, they’re exploited because they’re old and alone, helpless to defend themselves and forced to depend on others. They’re especially vulnerable to financial abuse if they have some amount of money saved or a steady income. More often than not, it’s caregivers who are responsible for the abuse.

Dutch Arrest Woman for Committing Infanticide without Doctor Approval

Dutch Arrest Woman for Committing Infanticide without Doctor Approval: A woman has been arrested for killing her four newborn children and packing their remains away in suitcases in the Netherlands - a country where infanticide is legal as long a doctor administers the dose.

The 25-year-old woman was a well-known and liked dentist’s assistant in the rural town of Nij Beet. She managed to keep the infanticides secret for years until her Wednesday arrest.
Police were tipped off by a suspicious neighbor who noted that the woman kept getting visibly pregnant, but never had any children.

Despite local shock and outrage at the infanticides, Dutch case law permits the killing of newborns for “unbearable suffering” by doctors following a checklist called the Groningen Protocol.

Mayo Study: Withdrawing LVAD Support Is Ethical

Mayo Study: Withdrawing LVAD Support Is Ethical - Health Blog - WSJ: High-tech medical devices can raise tricky ethical questions — just consider the left ventricular assist device (LVAD). The pricey device essentially takes over the function of the left ventricle, helping a heart to continue beating when it would otherwise fail. But what happens when patients become very, very sick and are essentially being kept alive by the LVAD? Is turning off the device more akin to euthanasia or taking someone off a ventilator?

LVADs make some clinicians uncomfortable for several reasons, they write — the device seems almost like a replacement part than outside assistance, for example. Researchers write, though, that withdrawing LVAD support isn’t the same as assisted suicide or euthanasia because there’s no “new pathology” introduced to cause death. Death, when it comes (all 14 patients died within a day of turning off the device), is due to the underlying heart failure, they write. So assuming patients or their representative know the consequences of deactivating the device, clinicians should honor their wishes.

Firms Help Workers Provide End-Of-Life Care

Firms Help Workers Provide End-Of-Life Care : NPR: Juggling a caregiving role with a full-time job is daunting. But it can be even more difficult working during the end stages of a loved one's life. Some companies are exploring end-of-life initiatives to help their employees manage the ultimate transition.

Too many people are dying in hospital against their wishes

Too many people are dying in hospital against their wishes | Society | guardian.co.uk: Most people want to die at home but a report out today shows huge variation in how likely that is to happen. There are steps that can ensure people get the end of life care they desire.

Would You Take The New Alzheimer's Test?

Would You Take The New Alzheimer's Test? | The New Republic: With Alzheimer’s, the power to detect has fewer consequences for medical intervention, since the disease remains such a grim diagnosis. Some will question when to offer the test -- or even whether to offer it at all. But, sometimes, knowledge really is power. And while some people might use the knowledge to contemplate assisted suicide, years in the future, most would probably use the test simply because they feel the need to have some control -- the chance to plan sensibly for the time they have, the opportunity to put their affairs in order, to re-focus their lives on what is really important to them.

Euthanasia Cases Rise in the Netherlands

Dutch Govt: Euthanasia Cases Rose 13 Percent in 2009, Now 2% of All Deaths: The Dutch government reported today that the number of reported cases of euthanasia or assisted suicide rose 13 percent in 2009 and now total about two percent of all deaths.

Euthanasia numbers continue to rise; the newly-reported increase follows a 10.5 percent rise in the deaths from 2008-2009. The annual report revealed 2,636 cases of killing patients directly or helping them kill themselves in 2009. The vast majority of the cases were direct euthanasia as opposed to assisted suicide. About 80 percent were cancer patients; more than 80 percent died in their homes.

The new report also indicated nine cases in which Dutch doctors did not properly follow the stipulations of the euthanasia law, which is punishable by up to 12 years in prison. See also LifeSiteNews.

Push for euthanasia law reform in Victoria - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Push for euthanasia law reform in Victoria - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation): The Greens MP Colleen Hartland plans to introduce a motion to the the Upper House of Parliament seeking a review of the 22 year old Medical Treatment Act. Her motion focuses on end-of-life treatment and palliative care, and will ask whether the Act meets contemporary expectations and prevents suffering.

Editor: If this is all she's asking, it's not euthanasia in the sense of 'causing death.'

The lobby group Dying with Dignity Victoria says more than 80 percent of people support the right of terminally ill people to die peacefully with medical assistance.

Editor: This would be causing death and is immoral.

Please allow me to die, says 70-yr-old woman

Please allow me to die, says 70-yr-old woman - Bangalore - City - The Times of India: In the first of its kind in recent memory, a woman had sought the high court's permission to die (voluntary euthanasia) claiming that she is not willing to live a life of heavy pain and misery. The petitioner suffered a slipped disc and has been bed-ridden for the past ten or eleven years.

Editor: This from a country that until recently allowed widows to throw themselves on their husbands' funeral pyers.

Spinal-Fluid Test Is Found to Predict Alzheimer’s

Spinal-Fluid Test Is Found to Predict Alzheimer’s - NYTimes.com: Researchers report that a spinal fluid test can be 100 percent accurate in identifying patients with significant memory loss who are on their way to developing Alzheimer’s disease.

The Cost of Dying: End-of-Life Care

The Cost of Dying: End-of-Life Care - 60 Minutes - CBS News: 'Often the best care is saying 'Let's see how you do on this particular treatment for a couple of days. And see if you respond.' Not necessarily doing a lot of tests,' Dr. Elliott Fisher, a researcher at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy, said. 'The best care may well be staying home with a trial of a new medication, rather than being admitted to a hospital where you can be exposed to a hospital-acquired infection. We have a system that rewards much, much more care.'

In almost every business, cost-conscious customers and consumers help keep prices down. But not with health care. That's because the customers and consumers who are receiving the care aren't the ones paying the bill.

By law, Medicare cannot reject any treatment based upon cost. It will pay $55,000 for patients with advanced breast cancer to receive the chemotherapy drug Avastin, even though it extends life only an average of a month and a half; it will pay $40,000 for a 93-year-old man with terminal cancer to get a surgically implanted defibrillator if he happens to have heart problems too.

After analyzing Medicare records for end-of-life treatment, Fisher is convinced that there is so much waste in the present system that if it were eliminated there would be no need to ration beneficial care to anyone. Multiple studies have concluded that most patients and their families are not even familiar with end-of-life options and things like living wills, home hospice and pain management.

Seniors face lower risk of dangerous prescriptions with computerized hospital Rx system

Observations: Seniors face lower risk of dangerous prescriptions with computerized hospital Rx system: As hospitals struggle to integrate electronic medical records, some have already instituted electronic drug ordering systems to help reduce prescription errors. But not all so-called computerized provider order entry systems are specially tuned to different patient populations. And while some can catch potentially dangerous drug-drug interactions for individuals, only one has been alerting providers when they are ordering something that could be dangerous for seniors.

Dutch suicide clinic a possibility

DutchNews.nl - Suicide clinic a possibility: The Dutch association Right to Die (NVVE) is to investigate the feasibility of an assisted suicide clinic -- along the lines of Dignitas in Switzerland -- for people with a deep desire to end their lives but who fall outside the current euthanasia law.

Ad agencies compete for best compulsory euthanasia advertisement

See explanation at Bioedge.

Companies Help Employees Provide End-Of-Life Care

Companies Help Employees Provide End-Of-Life Care : NPR: Juggling a caregiving role with a full-time job is daunting. But it can be even more difficult working during the end stages of a loved one's life. Some companies are exploring end-of-life initiatives to help their employees manage the ultimate transition.

Oral Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis

Oral Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis - Multiple Sclerosis Center - Everyday Health: There's been excitement, trepidation, hope, frustration and fear whenever the topic of oral treatments for MS arises. To date, and since the first disease-modifying therapy (DMT) was introduced nearly two decades ago, people living with this neuro-degenerative disease have had to inject themselves or check into infusion centers for their DMTs. MS expert James Bowen, MD, answers questions about a new MS drug that can be taken by mouth.

News Analysis - In Push to Detect Early Alzheimer’s Markers, Hopes for Prevention

News Analysis - In Push to Detect Early Alzheimer’s Markers, Hopes for Prevention - NYTimes.com: Will Alzheimer’s disease, a terrible degenerative brain disease with no treatments and no clear guidelines for diagnosis before its end stages, become like heart disease? That might mean early markers of risk, analogous to high cholesterol levels, that predict who is likely to get it. And it might mean drugs that actually prevent it. That is the hope behind new diagnostic guidelines being proposed by the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association.

Mayo Study: Withdrawing LVAD Support Is Ethical

Mayo Study: Withdrawing LVAD Support Is Ethical - Health Blog - WSJ: High-tech medical devices can raise tricky ethical questions — just consider the left ventricular assist device (LVAD). The pricey device essentially takes over the function of the left ventricle, helping a heart to continue beating when it would otherwise fail. But what happens when patients become very, very sick and are essentially being kept alive by the LVAD? Is turning off the device more akin to euthanasia or taking someone off a ventilator?

LVADs make some clinicians uncomfortable for several reasons, they write — the device seems almost like a replacement part than outside assistance, for example. Researchers write, though, that withdrawing LVAD support isn’t the same as assisted suicide or euthanasia because there’s no “new pathology” introduced to cause death. Death, when it comes (all 14 patients died within a day of turning off the device), is due to the underlying heart failure, they write. So assuming patients or their representative know the consequences of deactivating the device, clinicians should honor their wishes.

7 Facts about Multiple Sclerosis Flares

Multiple Sclerosis Flares - Multiple Sclerosis Center - EverydayHealth.com Exacerbation. Attack. Relapse. No matter what you call it, there are certain things you should know about preventing, treating, and recovering from an MS flare.

Have you been stealing promises?

Stand to Reason: August 2010 Mentoring Letter: A biblical promise is a binding pledge from God to do — or not do — something specific. If the promise is made to you, you have a right to expect God to keep His word. If you are not the rightful owner, though, you may not lay claim to it.

Dignitas boss: Healthy should have right to die

BBC News - Dignitas boss: Healthy should have right to die: "Ludwig Minelli, the head of Dignitas, is 77. A trained lawyer, he founded the assisted suicide organisation 12 years ago. Dignitas has the status of an association under Swiss law, with two active members, Mr Minelli and one other. The identity of the other member has not been revealed. These two active members control the policy and financing of Dignitas."

Accepting people with disabilities

Accepting people with disabilities: Accepting a person with any disability - from dyslexia and schizophrenia to muscular dystrophy - in large measure simply means respecting that person as an equal and trying to embrace what they can do rather than what they can't.

Parents of coma blink patient Richard Rudd speak of emotional turmoil

The doctor leant towards his paralysed and comatose patient and asked a question that was literally a matter of life and death.

"Richard," he said calmly. "Do you want us to continue with your treatment? If you do, move your eyes to the left. If you don't, move them to the right."

After a few seconds of almost unbearable suspense, Richard Rudd's eyes shifted to the left. He could hear. He could understand. He could communicate. 

Editor: He could think . . . he could decide. The Telegraph article continues . . . 

He didn't want to die. . . . Richard's mother Christine Walker, 60, admits that she has "mixed feelings" about her son's "awakening."

"Part of me was elated, of course, that there was a sign of life. But I also felt sadness," she said. "I know I have lost the Richard I had. He will never be the same again. I have to get used to the new Richard. But he will never have much of a life and that's hard to take. I don't know how aware he is and how happy he will not be walking, talking or anything else. You wouldn't be human if you didn't wonder if he would have been better off dead." 

Editor: Mom's a human, all right. Pretty focused on herself. I hope Richard never reads this article.