M case decision welcome but judgment contains future threats to disabled people

M case decision welcome but judgment contains future threats to disabled people: SPUC Pro-Life, a leading anti-euthanasia organisation, has published a summary and in-depth commentary on yesterday's decision in the M case. Mr Justice Baker, sitting in the Court of Protection, refused an application for withdrawal of assisted food and fluids from a woman diagnosed in a so-called 'minimally conscious state.'

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Emergency Preparedness for Loved Ones With Alzheimer's Disease

Emergency Preparedness for Loved Ones With Alzheimer's Disease: People with Alzheimer's disease are especially vulnerable in disaster situations. According to the Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral Center, impaired memory and reasoning may severely limit these seniors' ability to cope. For caregivers, it is important to have a disaster plan that incorporates the special needs of loved ones who have Alzheimer's or other dementia.

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Out And About: The Home Care Perspective

Out And About: The Home Care Perspective: Staying inside every day can lead to social isolation, lack of stimulation, lessened physical activity, poor sleep and depression.

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Widowed and Alone: Rebuilding Your Social Life

Widowed and Alone: Rebuilding Your Social Life - CarePages.com: After the death of a partner or spouse you've been caring for, you may find that your social life in disarray. But rebuilding a social life can prevent stress and help widows, widowers, and surviving partners get through the grieving process.

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Listen up!

Listen up!: When someone you care about needs to talk, one of the best ways you can show compassion is to offer a supportive ear. Good listening skills build social support and connect you deeper with the world around you. Try these five tips to sharpen your listening IQ.

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Euthanasia activist does not have approval to import lethal drug into Australia

Contrary to claims, euthanasia activist does not have approval to import lethal drug into Australia | LifeSiteNews.com: Philip Nitschke, Australia’s Dr. Death, claims he has received permission from Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to import Nembutal, a drug used by veterinarians for large animal euthanasia, for human euthanasia use. Paul Russell, the founder of HOPE Australia, received information from the TGA that indicated that Nitschke had not been given approval to import the lethal drug.

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Warning signs of stroke

A TIA Is Your Stroke Warning - Stroke Center - EverydayHealth.com: The symptoms and warning signs that you're having a pre-stroke or mini-stroke are similar to those of a stroke, but remember that a "transient ischemic attack" (TIA) doesn't last as long and doesn't leave lasting effects. To spot a TIA, look for:

• Speech problems, slurred speech, or difficulty speaking or comprehending
• Paralysis and weakness, which may occur in a leg or arm or in the face, usually on one side of the body
• Vision problems, such as double vision or loss of vision (may be in one eye or both)
• Balance problems, including losing your balance, difficulty walking, and losing coordination
• Headache, which is usually severe and with no known cause

Down syndrome's rewards touted as new test looms

Down syndrome's rewards touted as new test looms - Health - Health care - msnbc.com: Three surveys conducted by doctors at Children’s Hospital in Boston suggest the reality of Down syndrome is positive for a vast majority of parents, siblings and people with Down syndrome themselves. Among 2,044 parents or guardians surveyed, 79 percent reported their outlook on life was more positive because of their child with Down syndrome. This is particularly relevant as a new blood test to determine Down syndrome early in pregnancy is expected to be available within months.

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'Baby Joseph,' focus of treatment dispute, dies in his sleep

Joseph Maraachli, the infant who became the center of an international end-of-life debate, died peacefully in his sleep at his Windsor, Ontario, home, a spokesperson for the family said Wednesday.

Joseph's family had refused to accept a recommendation by a Canadian hospital to remove the boy's breathing tube and allow him to die. In March, the infant received a tracheotomy at a children's hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. "By providing him with this common palliative procedure, we've given Joseph the chance to go home and be with his family after spending so much of his young life in the hospital," said Dr. Robert Wilmott, chief of pediatrics for SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center in St. Louis.

In court papers, doctors in Canada said there was no hope for recovery. They would not perform a tracheotomy because they considered it to be invasive and not recommended for patients who require a long-term breathing machine.

Parents Moe and Sana Maraachli refused to accept the recommendation. The Maraachlis' daughter, Zeina, had died at home in 2002 after a tracheotomy after suffering similar complications, and the family wanted to offer the same care to their son.Joseph was "very peaceful, in no pain whatsoever, no distress," when he died.

The family countered assertions that Joseph was nonresponsive, blind and deaf, she said. Instead, the boy could hear the parents' voices and look for them. The family believed that, after a tracheotomy, Joseph could be freed from machinery. The parents said that they, rather than physicians, should make a judgment on quality of life.

Nurses helped the family provide 24-hour care for Joseph in his final months. The child was on almost no medication and apparently was in no pain. CNN

Dementia Patients Suffer Dubious Hospitalizations

Dementia Patients Suffer Dubious Hospitalizations - ABC News: One-fifth of Medicare nursing home patients with advanced Alzheimer's or other dementias were sent to hospitals or other nursing homes for questionable reasons in their final months, often enduring tube feeding and intensive care that prolonged their demise, a new study found.

Nursing homes may feel hospital care is warranted when a frail, elderly patient develops swallowing problems, pneumonia or a serious infection, but researchers suspect a different motive for many transfers: money. Medicare pays about three times the normal daily rate for nursing homes to take patients back after a brief hospitalization.

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Deadly Compassion

Deadly Compassion | Patients Rights Council: Ann Humphry’s suicide in 1991 made headlines worldwide. One of the reasons her death was so compelling was her allegation, in her suicide note, that she was driven to kill herself by her husband, Derek Humphry, co-founder of the Hemlock Society and author of the number-one best-seller Final Exit. Read Deadly Compassion in PDF format.

Editor: This is a fascinating book.

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Baby Joseph has died, was not "PVS"

ALEX SCHADENBERG: Baby Joseph was not "PVS": On September 27, 2011, Joseph Maraachli, better known as Baby Joseph, peacefully died at home with his family caring for him in Windsor Ontario Canada.

Some of the articles about the baby Joseph case have referred to him as being in a Persistent Vegetative State. Baby Joseph was not in a PVS or brain dead condition, but rather living with a neurological condition that resulted in a natural death.

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Grief: Quotes from Dr. Alan Wolfet

"One must grieve well and mourn well so that they can once again live well and love well."

“But grief is not a disease. Instead, it is the normal healthy process of embracing the mystery of the death of someone loved. If mourners see themselves as active participants in their healing, they will experience a renewed sense of meaning and purpose of life."

Shared by Karla Boyer

Death plea case rejected by judge

BBC News - Death plea case rejected by judge: A High Court judge has ruled that a brain-damaged woman should not be allowed to die, in what is being seen as a landmark case. The woman, who is 52 and can be referred to only as M, is in what is known as a "minimally conscious state." Her family argued she was in pain and that artificial feeding and hydration should be withdrawn. The Official Solicitor and the health authority responsible for her care opposed the application.

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Futile Care Theory Metasticizes

Futile Care Theory Metasticizes: Terminal Cancer Patients’ Lives Not Worth Extending » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: “Get out of the lifeboat you expensive terminal cancer patients! Sure, your lives could be extended months, maybe even years,–but it isn’t worth the money! You’re going to die sooner or later, so it might as well be sooner. We need the money for more important and productive patients.”

That, in a harshly stated nutshell, is the recommendation of a committee of doctors in Lancet Oncology who recommend money by rationing therapies that don’t save the lives of cancer patients, but can extend their lives.

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Biological Colonialism: Time to Get Judgmental About Organ Buyers

Biological Colonialism: Time to Get Judgmental About Organ Buyers » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: "People who buy organs from the desperate poor think their lives are more important than the health and lives of their sellers. Too often, families often agree. Too often, friends smile benignly and congratulate the recipient for their good fortune. But if we let people know that we would break friendships if someone buys an organ, if family members promise to support and love in illness, but to shun in exploitation, perhaps we could blunt the growth we are seeing in human organ futures. . . . [W]e need to use the power of peer pressure to promote character, even in times of direst crisis."

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Nitschke wins right to use euthanasia drug

Nitschke wins right to use euthanasia drug | Adelaide Now: Right-to-die campaigner Dr Philip Nitschke has gained permission to import a drug used in voluntary euthanasia. He will provide the drug Nembutal to a Victor Harbor woman who wants to die. "The drugs will be provided to her with clear instructions, he said. "They are to help her sleep. If she breaches those instructions she will be aware there are significant dangers. The patient will also have to sign a statutory notification that she is aware of the risks associated with taking more than one tablet a night to help her sleep."

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11 Early Signs of Dementia

11 Early Signs of Dementia - Alzheimer's Health Center - Everyday Health: Frequently falling, mismanaging your money, or staring into space? Find out if you should be concerned about Alzheimer's disease or another form of dementia.

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Dutch doctors complain about long wait for judgments in cases of euthanasia

Dutch doctors complain about long wait for judgments in cases of euthanasia -- Sheldon 343 -- bmj.com: Doctors in the Netherlands who carry out voluntary euthanasia must wait up to eight months before knowing whether they face a criminal investigation after an “enormous” rise in numbers of cases has swamped an already stretched reporting system.

The Dutch Medical Association describes the situation as “serious,” with “unrest” among doctors. Under the 2002 law doctors have a legal obligation to report voluntary euthanasia (where a doctor ends a patient’s life at his or her explicit request) and assisted suicide (where the patient takes a deadly drug but the doctor assists) to one of five regional assessment committees.

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Only 1 in 10 doctors would commit euthanasia if bill passes in Portugal

Only 1 in 10 doctors would commit euthanasia if bill passes in Portugal: ethicist | LifeSiteNews.com: Although the Portuguese parliament is currently deliberating over several bills that could legalize physician assisted suicide and euthanasia, the debate may be largely a moot point. According to Portugal’s National Ethics Council for Life Sciences, only one in ten doctors would be willing to commit euthanasia if it were legalized.

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Kill Sick Wife, Don’t Go to Jail

Kill Sick Wife, Don’t Go to Jail » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: Stuart Mungall, 71, smothered former actress Joan, 69, at their home in Tooting last December. The prosecution accepted his plea in July of guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility caused by depression following the strain of caring for her. Mungall smiled and was given a thumbs-up sign from supporters in the public gallery at the Old Bailey after being given a 12-month sentence suspended for two years.

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Dehydrating Brain Injured People to Death Still an Important Political Issue

Dehydrating Brain Injured People to Death Still an Important Political Issue » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: Former Governor Mitt Romney is taking some heat for the scandalous attempt made during his governorship, by Massachusetts bureaucrats, to dehydrate a then unconscious 11- year-old child abuse victim, named Haleigh Poutre, to death.

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Disabled babies killed because of a "lack of imagination"

John Smeaton, SPUC director: Disabled babies are killed because of a "lack of imagination": Louise was born in 1979 and immediately found to have both spina bifida and hydrocephalus. Her paediatrician, Dr. Donald Garrow, persuaded her parents that she would be "better off dead" as she would be unable to walk, and would thus compare herself unfavourably with her two able-bodied sisters. He then sedated her so she was too sleepy to cry for food, and she eventually died of starvation and dehydration. Dr. Garrow made a video of her last days which was shown on daytime TV, and which I saw. Louise's face was grey, her eyes sunken. She had stick thin arms and legs but a bloated stomach, and looked much like the victims of starvation due to famine which elicit our sympathy, and often our financial help, whenever they are seen on TV.

I wrote to Dr.Garrow at the hospital and explained that I was disabled to just the extent that Louise had been, and that I felt he had made a horribly wrong decision.

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Changes in controversial organ donation method stir fears

Changes in controversial organ donation method stir fears - The Washington Post: Surgeons retrieving organs for transplant just after a donor’s heart stops beating would no longer have to wait at least two minutes to be sure the heart doesn’t spontaneously start beating again under new rules being considered by the United Network for Organ Sharing.

In order to increase donations, the organization is also poised to eliminate what many consider a central bulwark protecting patients in such already controversial cases: an explicit ban on even considering anyone for those donations before doctors and family members have independently decided to stop trying to save them.

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Safeguards Needed To Prevent Alzheimer's Discrimination

Safeguards Needed To Prevent Alzheimer's Discrimination: The changing tide of Alzheimer's diagnosis presents new challenges to the public, physicians and lawmakers: if you could find out your Alzheimer's risk, would you want to know? How should doctors tell you your risk? And what does it mean for the many newly diagnosed Americans still in the workplace?

Despite the emergence of new tools that can diagnose Alzheimer's earlier, no effective interventions have been identified to stop the progression of the disease. A new report tackles the ethical and logistical challenges of safely and effectively communicating a diagnosis of pre-clinical Alzheimer's disease in light of the gulf between diagnosis and treatment.

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South Australia Medical Association and Law Society opposes euthanasia bill

ALEX SCHADENBERG: South Australia - Medical Association and Law Society opposes euthanasia bill: Dr. Peter Sharley, the President of the South Australian Medical Association and Ralph Bonig, the President of The Law Society of South Australia released a joint statement opposing the Steph Key euthanasia bill. Analysis of the Steph Key euthanasia bill

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What Robertson Doesn't Know

Rabbi Harold S. Kushner said, “There may not always be a chance for a cure, but there is always opportunity for healing.”Wesley J. Smith

Dad’s miracle is that as he suffers from a brain breakdown, he is living in his heart more than ever. He reaches out to help a housemate grasp a spoon; he holds a door so a woman can pass through in her wheelchair; he openly yearns for Mom. San Francisco Chronicle



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Better dead than disabled?

Better dead than disabled? The insanity of that $4.5 million ‘wrongful birth’ case | LifeSiteNews.com: Nick Vujicic, a man born without limbs, sprang to my mind when I read the headline: 'Couple who would have aborted disabled son awarded $4.5 million for "wrongful birth."' This story, following so soon on the heels of the news that an Alberta judge was willing to use abortion to justify infanticide, once again illustrates starkly the fact that our collective society’s casual downgrading of human life by abortion is opening a fearful Pandora’s Box of death, misery, and eugenics."

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Joni & Friends: Report from Cedarville University

Report from Cedarville! | Blog | Joni and Friends: "I wish you could have been on the front row as I sat before over 3000 students at the Cedarville University chapel to cast a vision for reaching the world's one billion disabled for Christ."

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Brain researchers study high-tech ways to overcome injury

Health News - Brain researchers study high-tech ways to overcome injury:"About a year after winning a major share of a nearly $15-million grant, a team of Brown professors is developing and using new technologies to study the brain. Their goal is to inform the development of therapies that could restore functions lost to injury and stroke.

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Chinese respect for elderly devastated after decades of population control

Chinese respect for elderly devastated after decades of population control | LifeSiteNews.com: “Thirty years of anti-people propaganda have left their mark,” said Population Research Institute President Steven Mosher. “Like Hitler’s campaign to eliminate ‘useless eaters,’ the one-child policy has created the impression in the minds of the young that the principal hindrance to China’s development is too many people.”

An online poll by Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television found that fewer than 7% of 20,000 respondents would stop to offer help to an elderly person in distress. More than 45% said they would turn a blind eye while 43% said they would help only if their actions were caught on camera.

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Euthanasia becoming integral part of Dutch medicine

BioEdge: Euthanasia becoming integral part of Dutch medicine: What lies ahead for the practice of medicine in the Netherlands? The report observers that there are already 1 million elderly with “multimorbidity” and in ten years time there will be 1.5 million – 10% of the population. All of these will be eligible for euthanasia if their suffering feels interminable and their life seems meaningless.

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Should doctors tell patients when death is imminent?

Should doctors tell patients when death is imminent? - latimes.com: A study published online this week suggests that healthcare professionals keep patients fully informed in the final days and hours of life. Patients who were informed were much more likely to have their preferences met regarding intravenous medications, such as morphine. They were also more likely to have died in their preferred place and their family members were more likely to be offered bereavement support and were prepared for the event.

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Robertson McQuilken repudiates Pat Robertson

See Pat Robertson repudiates the Gospel

Nursing homes try to reduce use of powerful antipsychotic drugs for dementia patients

Nursing homes try to reduce use of powerful antipsychotic drugs for dementia patients - The Washington Post: Antipsychotics are meant primarily to help control hallucinations, delusions and other abnormal behavior in people suffering from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but they’re also given to hundreds of thousands of elderly nursing home patients in the U.S. to pacify aggressive and paranoid behavior related to dementia.

The drugs can limit seniors’ ability to effectively communicate, socialize or participate in everyday life. But a series of warnings has prompted a movement of nursing homes trying to reduce the decades-old practice, often resulting in remarkably positive changes.

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Pat Robertson Repudiates the Gospel (one more time)

This week on his television show Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson said a man would be morally justified to divorce his wife with Alzheimer's disease in order to marry another woman. The dementia-riddled wife is, Robertson said, "not there" anymore. This is more than an embarrassment. This is more than cruelty. This is a repudiation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

. . . Marriage, the Scripture tells us, is an icon of something deeper, more ancient, more mysterious. The marriage union is a sign, the Apostle Paul announces, of the mystery of Christ and his church (Eph. 5). The husband, then, is to love his wife "as Christ loved the church" (Eph. 5:25). This love is defined not as the hormonal surge of romance but as a self-sacrificial crucifixion of self. The husband pictures Christ when he loves his wife by giving himself up for her.

. . . A woman or a man with Alzheimer's can't do anything for you. There's no romance, no sex, no partnership, not even companionship. That's just the point. Because marriage is a Christ/church icon, a man loves his wife as his own flesh. He cannot sever her off from him simply because she isn't "useful" anymore.

Pat Robertson's cruel marriage statement is no anomaly. He and his cohorts have given us for years a prosperity gospel with more in common with an Asherah pole than a cross. They have given us a politicized Christianity that uses churches to "mobilize" voters rather than to stand prophetically outside the power structures as a witness for the gospel.

But Jesus didn't die for a Christian Coalition; he died for a church. And the church, across the ages, isn't significant because of her size or influence. She is weak, helpless, and spattered in blood. He is faithful to us anyway. Russell D. Moore, Christianity Today

Editor: See 700 Club footage here. He's right about one thing: He's no ethicist, and no theologian either. I hope this upsets Christians more than anything President Obama does.


In contrast, here's an exquisite example of caring: Robertson McQuilkin faced a similar situation two decades ago. He decided to step down and end his 22 year tenure as president of Columbia Bible College and Seminary. Instead, he helped care full-time for his wife Muriel. She died in 2003 after suffering for 25 years with the disease. During the last decade, Muriel could not recognize her husband caregiver. CT blog



Related:

• McQuilkin's own testimony from the CT archives, called "Living by Vows"
• "Love them to the last breath" - Life Matters issue relating to an AIDS hospice in South Africa. Christian love (let alone marital love) requires a lasting commitment.
• "Should Alzheimer's Be a Reason to Ditch Marriage Vows?" This is by a guy (Mitch Albom) who traveled weekly from Michigan to Massachusetts to be with a friend who had ALS.

UN’s High Fertility Projections Still Show Rapid Global Aging

Friday Fax: ANALYSIS: UN’s High Fertility Projections Still Show Rapid Global Aging: Even with its highly optimistic fertility projections, the new UN population forecast predicts a grayer world than the one imagined by its 2009 report which used much lower fertility estimates.

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Couple Gets $4.5M Because Doctor Didn't Suggest Abortion

Couple Gets $4.5M Because Doctor Didn't Suggest Abortion | LifeNews.com: A Florida couple won a wrongful birth lawsuit claiming their son, born with no arms and one leg, should have become a victim of abortion. They complained the doctor in the case should have detected the physical disabilities before birth.Their son is now a happy three-year-old boy. They asked for $9 million towards the costs of his upbringing and damages for their pain and suffering.

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Assisted Suicide Advocates Pushing Hard To Legalize and Expand Doctor Prescribed Death

Assisted Suicide Advocates Pushing Hard To Legalize and Expand Doctor Prescribed Death |: Assisted suicide is currently legal in two states– Oregon and Washington–and may have some legal protection in the state of Montana, because of a court decision. While doctor-prescribed death is legal in only these two Northwest states, assisted suicide advocates have announced they plan on getting a foothold in the Northeast: in Vermont and Massachusetts. Should they succeed, momentum could leave many other New England states vulnerable.

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Swedish doctor in dock for baby euthanasia trial

Swedish doctor in dock for baby euthanasia trial: A doctor at a Swedish children's hospital went on trial Tuesday accused of an infant euthanasia killing in a case which has caused deep unease among the country's medical profession.

The case, which has received significant media coverage since the baby's death in 2009, is exceptional because legal procedures against doctors are very rare in Sweden, where malpractice cases usually go before the National Board of Health and Welfare with no criminal ramifications.

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Anti-Disability, Pro-Assisted Suicide Media Message

Anti Disability and Pro Assisted Suicide Message of Doctor-Prescribed Death Media Report » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: "Bob [Salamanca] related how he too had wanted to commit suicide–he had been an amateur boxer and a successful businessman installing hardwood floors–and it was very difficult both physically and emotionally to slowly become a quadriplegic. For example, he refused to look in mirrors because of what the illness had done to his once robust physique. Worse for Bob, he felt abandoned by those who he perceived considered his life not worth living."

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Mark Davis Pickup: My answer to the government regarding a legal challenge to Canada's laws against assisted suicide

Mark Davis Pickup: My input to government regarding a legal challenge to Canada's laws against assisted suicide: "My citizenship rights entitle me (and other Canadians with disabilities) to equal protections of the law. The first Legal Right mentioned in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (as well as Article 3 of the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights) is the Right to Life. There is no mention of a Right to Death. Human rights must protect life not death. Death does not need protecting; it is an eventuality that will visit everyone regardless of what any law might state." Secondhand Smoke

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AGING AMERICA: Caregivers urge action as Obama administration drafts national Alzheimer’s plan

AGING AMERICA: Caregivers urge action as Obama administration drafts national Alzheimer’s plan - The Washington Post: Dementia is poised to become a defining disease of the rapidly aging population — and a budget-busting one for Medicare, Medicaid and families. Now the Obama administration is developing the first National Alzheimer’s Plan, to combine research aimed at fighting the mind-destroying disease with help that caregivers need to stay afloat.

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Japanese Seniors: Amazing example of self-sacrifice

Japanese Seniors: Send Us To Damaged Nuclear Plant : NPR: They are all retirees, and they have all volunteered for a single, dangerous mission: to replace younger workers at the badly damaged Fukushima nuclear plant. The Skilled Veterans Corps for Fukushima consists of more than 500 seniors who have signed up for a job that has been called courageous — and suicidal.

Kazuko Sasaki, a 72-year-old grandmother, is one of those ready to serve. "My generation built these nuclear plants. So we have to take responsibility for them. We can't dump this on the next generation," she says.

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Detecting covert consciousness in the vegetative state

Detecting covert consciousness in the vegetative state | Mo Costandi | Neurophilosophy blog | Science | guardian.co.uk: A recent study shows that patients in the minimally conscious state may be capable of dreaming, and that studying the brain wave patterns associated with sleep could be helpful in distinguishing minimally conscious patients from those in the vegetative state.

Accurate diagnosis of these mysterious conditions can help relatives make difficult decisions, because minimally conscious patients are more likely than vegetative ones to show some degree of recovery. Diagnosis can be difficult, however, and up to 40% of patients are diagnosed wrongly. It had been thought that vegetative patients were completely unaware of their surroundings, but this view began to change about five years ago, following the publication of a landmark 2006 study led by Adrian Owen.

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"You have a choice to make"

While parents are not prepared to hear a troubling diagnosis for their child, Bernadette and Phil were even more unprepared for how differently this pregnancy would be treated than the first seven.

...After a long series of questions probing their health, eating habits and family history, the Smith's finally received a diagnosis for Hannah: Trisomy 18. The genetic disorder, also known as Edward's Syndrome, is caused by an extra copy of a chromosome in a person's DNA. The disorder can cause several types of birth defects, and according to the National Institutes of Health only half of unborn babies diagnosed survive the birth process, and those who do survive have an extremely poor prognosis.

Bernadette said the specialist told her that Hannah had a grim outlook and would either die during the pregnancy or would die shortly after birth. The specialist told the couple bluntly that they had a "choice" to make. Bernadette said that though the specialist didn't mention it, everyone in the room knew that "choice" meant abortion. Phil said very clearly that they would not abort their child, but that was not good enough for the specialist.

"Then the specialist said to just me, ignoring Phil, 'You have a choice to make,'" Bernadette said. Right to Life of Michigan

Pressurised chambers to treat traumatic brain injury?

Pressurised chambers to treat traumatic brain injury?: Using a pressurised chamber on traumatic brain injury means the body receives more oxygen, assisting the healing of the brain.

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Invisible Suicide Prevention Week

Invisible Suicide Prevention Week » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: When I was practicing law full time from the mid 1970s into the 1980s, there was tremendous on emphasis suicide prevention. Hotlines proliferated, anti suicide billboards were ubiquitous, and a great deal of attention was paid to the issue throughout society.

Then, the assisted suicide movement began arguing that some suicides were good. The corrosive effect of the movement, among other factors, has enervated the suicide prevention movement, to the point that when someone sent me a suicide threat on email several years ago, I couldn’t find a prevention center to help him in his area code!

And now, Suicide Prevention Week has come and almost gone, without making a sound.

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Alison Davis's powerful response to euthanasia campaigner Tony Nicklinson

John Smeaton, SPUC director: Read Alison Davis's powerful response to euthanasia campaigner Tony Nicklinson: "I run No Less Human, a pro-life disability rights group which, amongst other things, campaigns against all forms of euthanasia/assisted suicide. NLH members are either disabled themselves, have a disabled family member, or care in some capacity for disabled people. I have several seriously disabling conditions, including spina bifida/hydrocephalus, chronic obstructive pulmonary (lung) disease, osteoporosis and arthritis. I use a wheelchair full-time. I take morphine regularly, but that doesn't satisfactorily control the pain. When the pain is at its worst I can't think, move or speak. I need surgery, but cannot have it, because my lungs are so badly affected there is a high risk that I would die on the operating table. I live with levels of pain which most would find 'unbearable'. But somehow, with the help of my closest friend and carer, Colin, we manage to find a way through the tough times together."

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Family doctor 'helped up to 30 end lives' at clinic'

Family doctor 'helped up to 30 end lives' at clinic - Telegraph: In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Dr Michael Irwin, 80, said he had given advice to dozens of people contemplating going to Dignitas, but could not be precise. “I never keep records because I never know when the police might come,” he said. Dr Irwin, who was struck off the medical register for trying to assist someone to commit suicide, caused controversy earlier this week when he said he was prepared to take a 91-year-old arthritis sufferer to Dignitas even though she was not terminally ill.

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Dutch Physicians association supports euthanasia for loneliness.

ALEX SCHADENBERG: Dutch Physicians association supports euthanasia for loneliness.: The new guidelines state that euthanasia for loneliness, depression, disability and dementia is also acceptable. The Radio Netherlands report stated:

In an interview broadcast on Dutch television, KNMG chair Arie Nieuwenhuijzen Kruseman said weighing up non-medical factors was far from simple: "It's quite possible that the same constellation of factors would be experienced as unbearable and lasting suffering by one patient but quite tolerable by another. This makes it extremely difficult."

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Rwanda moving to provide “good deaths” for terminally ill

CMAJ: Rwanda moving to provide “good deaths” for terminally ill: “Go home and die.” Until recently, that advice constituted the extent of end-of-life care that patients with incurable diseases could expect in Rwanda. As in much of the developing world, palliative care was virtually nonexistent in the tiny Africa nation, condemning those with terminal illnesses to meet their end in isolation and pain.

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Free download: Imposed Death

Welcome to Human Life Alliance: Imposed Death exposes common misunderstandings associated with Living Wills and end-of-life decisions. This publication documents society's progress down the "slippery slope" of assisted suicide and euthanasia to dehumanize the elderly, disabled, and medically vulnerable. This 12-page resource guide is "everything you ever wanted to know about euthanasia, but didn't know who to ask."

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7 ways to prevent Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's Prevention - Lifestyle Changes That Protect the Brain - Health Tip - RealAge: More than 50 percent of Alzheimer's cases may be preventable. In fact, research suggests that there are seven key lifestyle changes people could make to help protect themselves from the memory-stealing disease.

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Spanish woman dies 14 days after removal of feeding tube

Ramona Estevez, the 91-year-old Spanish woman whose feeding tube was withdrawn last month, died on Sept. 6. Bishop Jose Vilaplana of Huelva weighed in on the case recently saying, “(a)ny action aimed at interrupting food and hydration constitutes an act of euthanasia, in which death is produced not through illness but through the bringing about of hunger and thirst.” CNA

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44 UK assisted suicide cases since guidelines published

44 assisted suicide cases since CPS guidelines published - Telegraph: More than 40 people have killed themselves with the help of their friends or family since new guidelines were introduced in 2010 that effectively decriminalised assisted suicide, official figures obtained by The Daily Telegraph have disclosed.

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10% of Suicides Involve Illness

10% of Suicides Involve Illness » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: "Do we want to increase this appalling number? If so, we couldn’t do a better job than we are, what with assisted suicide advocates, law enforcement, and media increasingly winking at–and even endorsing–suicide to alleviate physical suffering. Unless we reverse course and aggressively engage in suicide prevention no matter what the cause–not just some so-called “irrational suicides”–this woeful count will only grow."

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Legalizing Euthanasia by Omission - And Making It a Doctor's Order

A problematic new end-of-life medical form is rapidly gaining ascendency in U.S. healthcare. It is called the "POLST" document. The acronym stands forPhysician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment. Click here to see an example of a standard POLST document.

The document consolidates on a single form provisions formerly dispersed over several documents: it acts as a living will specifying the scope of medical interventions a patient wishes in case of incapacitation; it makes specific provision for a do-not-resuscitate order (DNR); it has a box to check in the event a patient wishes to refuse treatment with antibiotics; and it allows a patient to designate a proxy decision maker.

Similar to other advanced directives, patients complete the POLST form when their capacities are in tact and the document becomes effective when consciousness is compromised. But different from older-type directives, the POLST document has provision for the signature of a physician (or physician assistant). This gives the designations on the document the force of an actionable medical order. Culture of Life

New Jersey’s New End of Life Commission: Pardon My Doubts

New Jersey’s New End of Life Commission: Pardon My Doubts » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: "The cynic in methinks this is just more bureaucratic churning to avoid actually doing anything worthwhile, or to continue the ongoing project of erecting the bureaucratic state, or both. The anti- euthanasia activist in me worries that an end of life commission will really be about saving money on the sooner deaths of the dying – either via Futile Care Theory or worse – than actually improving the treatment of dying people. And I have no doubt the doctor-prescribed-death crowd will be pushing for legalizing assisted suicide. But the optimist in me still hopes the commission will actually recommend ways to better help dying people and their families access services to help them live well."

Assisted Living Facilities Should Not be Forced to Allow Self Starvation Suicide

Assisted Living Facilities Should Not be Forced to Allow Self Starvation Suicide » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: Here’s the problem: We have two mutually incompatible value systems co-existing in the culture. One embraces suicide as a freedom issue. The other respects the value of all lives, including those of suicidal people. Again and again, the former group insist that their suicides have to be respected and even facilitated–including by those who hold the latter value system. But none of us should be required to be complicit in anyone’s self killing–whether a medical professional or a residential care facility.

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Detecting covert consciousness in the vegetative state

Detecting covert consciousness in the vegetative state | Mo Costandi | Neurophilosophy blog | Science | guardian.co.uk: A recent study which shows that patients in the minimally conscious state may be capable of dreaming, and that studying the brain wave patterns associated with sleep could be helpful in distinguishing minimally conscious patients from those in the vegetative state.

Accurate diagnosis of these mysterious conditions can help relatives make difficult decisions, because minimally conscious patients are more likely than vegetative ones to show some degree of recovery. Diagnosis can be difficult, however, and up to 40% of patients are diagnosed wrongly. It had been thought that vegetative patients were completely unaware of their surroundings, but this view began to change about five years ago, following the publication of a landmark 2006 study led by Adrian Owen.

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You have been my help!

The Daily Spurgeon: You have been my help!: Have we not had enough of complaining? Let us touch another string, and bless the Lord for all his lovingkindness.

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Assisted Suicide as Elder Abuse

Assisted Suicide as Elder Abuse » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: Think about what it means when a suicidal person is told that their desire to be made dead is so right that rather than help the woman live, say through suicide prevention services or obtaining better pain control, a doctor is willing to fly with to Switzerland with her so she can return home as cargo. It seems to me that this is a modern form of elder abuse because it both agrees with the suicidal woman that her life is useless, and more generally, promotes suicide as a splendid way for the elderly to overcome to the difficulties of old age. That some would see prevention as the real abuse illustrates how far we have fallen.

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Targeting Down Syndrome by Regulation

Targeting Down Syndrome by Regulation « Public Discourse: Prenatal testing for Down syndrome should not be labeled as preventive medicine—an inaccurate and misleading description of a procedure that may prevent Down syndrome births, but certainly does not prevent Down syndrome.

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Doctors should always deal with euthanasia

DutchNews.nl - Doctors should always deal with euthanasia: KNMG: Doctors with moral objections to euthanasia should always refer patients to another doctor for help, according to new guidelines drawn up by the national doctors association. In addition, euthanasia requests should always be taken seriously, even if someone has simply had enough of life without being terminally ill. A string of complaints relating to old age, for example, could be grounds for mercy killing, even if they are not terminal. But no-one should be helped to die simply because they are old or fed up with living.

Download the doctors association's position paper

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Massachusetts Ballot Prop Promoting Assisted Suicide Okayed

Massachusetts Ballot Prop Promoting Assisted Suicide Gets OK | LifeNews.com: The so-called Massachusetts Death with Dignity Act would allow doctors to prescribe lethal drugs to patients with less than six months to live — officially making Massachusetts the third state, following Oregon and Washington, to legalize assisted suicide.

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What Causes Alzheimer’s?

What Causes Alzheimer’s? | The Scientist: Researchers and pharma companies have tried to attack this disease by reducing amyloid plaques, but inflammation may be the real culprit.

Related: 5 ways to prevent Alzheimer's

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Secrets of Aging

Secrets of Aging | The Scientist: What does a normally aging brain look like? Are diseases of aging such as Alzheimer’s inevitable?

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Bulgarian MPs reject proposed euthanasia law

Bulgarian MPs reject proposed euthanasia law - Bulgaria - The Sofia Echo: "Euthanasia of terminally ill people will not be allowed in Bulgaria, after members of Parliament voted to reject a draft law that would have allowed euthanasia if the patient requested it formally, in a declaration certified by a notary, and in cases where this was not possible, at the request of the patient's spouse, adult children and parents. The bill would have provided for three-member panels made up of doctors and lawyers to consider requests for euthanasia.

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Canadian Doctors Quick to Push Families of Brain-Injured to Withdraw Treatment

Canadian Doctors Quick to Push Families of Brain-Injured to Withdraw Treatment, Study Reveals |: The study of six different Canadian trauma centers found that the majority of deaths in patients suffering a traumatic brain injury resulted from the withdrawal of life support, generally within the first three days of ICU admission. The study, “Mortality associated with withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy for patients with severe traumatic brain injury: a Canadian multicentre cohort study,” found the removal of life-sustaining therapy was, in large part, due to the physicians’ negative attitude toward the patients’ potential long-term quality of life.

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Social Justice, Doctor Assisted Suicide Don’t Mix

Social Justice, Doctor Assisted Suicide Don’t Mix « True Dignity Vermont: Part of the motivation behind doctor prescribed death is cost control. . . . People pay into the “system” which pays for their health care when they need it. It really does not matter whether the “system” is a commercial insurance company or a tax-payer funded system such as Medicare or Medicaid.

Society has chosen (up to this point in time) to put this system in place; and that system really should work for everyone who needs it. Breaching that societal agreement by encouraging some people to kill themselves is a most serious violation of trust and a betrayal of us all.

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Roe v. Wade Ethic Adversely Affecting America's Elderly

Roe v. Wade Ethic Adversely Affecting America's Elderly | LifeNews.com: There is no doubt that the Roe v. Wade ethic has had a striking effect on how we view the aged. Other than the unborn, no single age group in the United States suffers from a diminished view of the value of human life more than the elderly. Rather than viewing our aging relatives as persons worthy of our utmost reverence and care, Roe has taught us to look at other people in terms perceived convenience. If someone is wanted – if we feel that they contribute to our overall quality of life – then their life has worth; if not, it is permissible to store them away somewhere for others to care for until they die.

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End of Life Care

End of Life Care - The Hastings Center: Approximately 2.5 million Americans die each year in the United States. For the nearly 70% of them who live out their final days in hospitals, nursing homes, and at home in hospice care, decisions must continually be made about what treatment to administer, what treatment to cease or withhold, what treatment to continue, and what treatment to taper off.

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Readings on end-of-life care

End of Life - The Hastings Center: What if a patient refuses treatment? What if a dying patient no longer has the capacity to make decisions? What if the family disagrees with his wishes? How useful are advance directives? If treatments can keep somebody alive for added months, weeks, or days, when and to whom should they be given? Who takes care of the caretakers?

Editor: These materials are not necessarily from a pro-life perspective.

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10 depression symptoms to watch for

The Importance of Managing Symptoms of Depression - EverydayHealth.com: While severe sadness is the most well-known symptom of depression, knowing how to recognize other signs can help head off a future depressive episode.

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Recent Changes for the Vietnam Veteran and Agent Orange Conditions

In late 2010 the Veteran’s Affairs made some radical additions to the presumptive conditions list for Vietnam veterans suffering from ailments, or diseases, relating to Agent Orange and other chemicals. The pre-2010 list includes:

• Chloracne 
• Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• Soft tissue sarcoma- cancer that develops from certain tissues
• Hodgkin’s disease
• Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) Multiple myeloma
• Acute and sub acute peripheral neuropathy
• Prostate cancer
• Respiratory cancers (cancers of the lung, bronchus, larynx and trachea)
• Type 2 diabetes (also known as Type II diabetes mellitus or adult-onset diabetes)
• Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) 

The new additions include:

• hairy cell and other B-cell leukemias
• Parkinson's disease, and 
• ischemic heart disease

What does this mean for Vietnam veterans? Well, it means great news because it will be easier for our veterans that served during the Vietnam era to get their claim approved. However, the recent news has also caused an influx of new claims that are clogging the system. It is highly advisable to file your claim, or your loved ones, in to the VA immediately. Here is a link for our Vietnam Veterans to get started.

If your claim is denied, which happens often, do not fret! Thankfully, the VA now allows attorneys to advocate for our veterans to navigate the rules and regulations to more effectively. The best part is that fees are on a contingency basis—you do not pay attorney fees. Your attorney will get a regulated percent of your claim if appealed and approved. You will pay nothing out of pocket.

If you have any questions concerning this article, VA claims, or VA benefits please feel free to contact our trusted team of benefits specialists. Our team not only has experience in veterans' issues and government benefits, but also, with Attorneys versed in elder law and civil litigation, pursues legal remedies from a position of strength and integrity. Our Attorneys and Benefits Specialists tap a wealth of experience and industry contacts to advocate on behalf of veterans, whether they served 40 years or 4 days ago.

Rick Cross
Government Benefit Specialist
Plachta, Murphy & Associates, P.C.
(616) 458-3994

Should a paralysed person have the right to die?

BBC News - Hardtalk - Should a paralysed person have the right to die?: Tony Nicklinson isn't terminally ill, he is in terminal despair. Since he suffered a massive stroke six years ago he has been paralysed. The only movement he can control is in his eyes and his blinking. His unimpaired brain - his conscious self - is locked inside a body beyond his command. Tony wants from life one thing above all else - the right to die. To be more precise he is fighting for the right to be lawfully killed.

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The dead more alive than the vegetative?

The dead more alive than the vegetative?: In interviews with researchers about hypothetical car-accident victims, study participants attributed less “mind” to those left in a PVS than to those who had “passed away” or lay in a coffin in a cemetery. As the title of the study puts it, people in a PVS are “more dead than dead.” People trapped in this state are not actually dead, of course. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, these people are “alive but unable to move or respond to his or her environment.”

Editor: This article calls Terri Schiavo the "most famous" example of a person in a PVS. I believe that designation is in dispute.

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Right to choose fatal fast is tested

Health | Right to choose fatal fast is tested | Seattle Times Newspaper: After Armond and Dorothy Rudolph began refusing nourishment, the assisted living facility in Albuquerque, N.M., in which they lived tried to evict them. When the family balked, the managers called 911 and tried to have the elderly couple transported to a hospital.

The Rudolphs did leave the facility, and they died in a rented house surrounded by their children and cared for by hospice workers. Now their case has become a rallying point for those who support self-determination at the end of life, and it has raised thorny questions about the rights of residents in assisted living facilities and society's deep unease with hastening death.

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Living with grief: Myths and realities

Helpful Articles | Hospice of Michigan: Whenever we have a loss, we experience grief. Because grief can be such a strong emotion, it can leave us feeling overwhelmed and confused. The Hospice Foundation of America offers this list of myths and realities about living with grief.

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Removal of life support may occur too early in some cases

There are notable differences in mortality rates after traumatic brain injury from hospital to hospital. The results of a new Canadian study have found that those differences may be attributable to individual hospital practices; specifically, how different hospitals handle the removal of life support from such patients.

. . . In a number of cases of death due to withdrawal of life support, death occurred within the first three days of care. In most cases, life support was removed because the patient had a poor chance of survival, poor long-term neurological prognosis, or a prognosis which was not compatible with his or her wishes.
More Information

Though all are legitimate reasons to cease life-sustaining therapy with a patient, researchers warned that some trauma centers may be making these calls too early. Especially given that many traumatic brain injury cases – often the result of car accidents, assaults, etc. – occur in young people whose chances of recovering from such injury are greater than someone who is older, three days of care may not be enough time to give an accurate prognosis.

The authors admitted several limitations to the study, among which was the reliance on patient medical records which may have led to an underestimation of the frequency of life support withdrawal. However, the results leave us with important things to consider. Researchers encourage doctors to communicate frequently with families of severe brain injury patients if removal of life support or life-sustaining therapy may become necessary. Healthwatch MD