Brain dead patients could be kept alive to harvest their organs

Brain dead patients could be kept alive to harvest their organs for NHS - Telegraph: UK hospitals could be allowed to keep patients with massive brain injuries alive solely to harvest their organs. NHS Blood and Transplant is considering radical ways to increase the supply of organs - including that registered donors should receive preferential treatment. The 19 million people on the Organ Donation Register could also be given preference in the event of needing an organ, over those who are not.

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2 UC Davis Surgeons Banned From Human Research

2 UC Davis Surgeons Banned From Human Research - ABC News: Two University of California at Davis surgeons have been banned from doing human research after they injected bacteria into the head wounds of consenting terminally ill patients without university authorization.

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Controversial Down's syndrome testing gets Swiss go-ahead

Controversial Down's syndrome testing gets Swiss go-ahead - Yahoo! News Canada: Switzerland has given the green light for a new prenatal test for Down's syndrome amid controversy over whether this will lead to more abortions. Testing will be available in the country from mid-August following a decision by Swissmedic, the national agency for therapeutic products. The test, developed by life sciences company LifeCodexx, involves screening pregnant women's blood samples for the presence of foetal Down's syndrome, which is also known as trisomy 21.

Editor: This has got to be bad in a country with legal assisted suicide.


Meanwhile: Spanish pro-life group says fetal handicap law should eliminate abortion

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When The Pain Won't Go Away

Lies Young Women Believe | When The Pain Won't Go Away: It doesn't have to be physical; if you have pain that hits you day after day after day, your faith can begin to feel pretty beat up. Or ... that very same pain can be the water God uses to grow your faith into full bloom.

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Paralysed dad learning to walk again after copying his baby girl

Paralysed dad learning to walk again after copying his baby girl | News | The Christian Institute: Mark Ellis, from Derbyshire, now uses a walking aid to get around and his “speech has come on a lot” in the time since he left hospital. His wife, Amy, says the pair use books and toys to learn how to do things and communicate.

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Write to Me Only With Thine Eyes

Write to Me Only With Thine Eyes - ScienceNOW: People "locked in" by paralyzing disorders such as Lou Gehrig's disease have long relied on blinks or facial twitches to build sentences one letter at a time. But they soon might be able to take advantage of a simpler, faster mode of communication, new research suggests. With the help of an old optical illusion, people can train their eyes to write and draw in cursive on a computer screen as quickly as they can write with a pen. In addition to providing a new medium for self-expression, the technique challenges traditional ideas about the limits of human vision.

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Death With Dignity Becomes War on the Elderly in New Mexico

Death With Dignity Becomes War on the Elderly in New Mexico | LifeNews.com: Currently, Doctors Aroop Mangalik and Katherine Morris, along with cancer patient Aja Riggs, are challenging New Mexico’s pro-life ban on assisted suicide in court. They ultimately want to prove that their loophole “aid in dying” argument—giving conscious terminally ill patients lethal medicine to die—is not assisted suicide.

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Assisted Suicide Proposal: “Death Panels on Steroids”

Assisted Suicide Proposal: “Death Panels on Steroids” » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: In their NEJM article, “Redefining Physicians’ Role in Assisted  Dying,” the authors address what they see as a real problem: There aren’t enough doctors willing to participate in assisted suicide. As the authors state, “Many medical professionals are uncomfortable with the idea of physicians playing an active role in ending patient’s lives.” Furthermore, they explain that the American Medical Association and various state medical groups oppose legalization.

Oh dear, oh dear!  What to do?

“We believe there is a compelling case for legalizing assisted dying, but assisted dying need not be physician-assisted.” And how do they suggest that this hurdle between diagnosis and prescription be overcome? Simple. Take the doctor out of doctor-prescribed suicide by setting up a  government-facilitated process that will make it easier for patients to cross the River Styx.

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5 tips to ask for what you need

5 tips to ask for what you need: Oftentimes, the people who could use the most help are those who tend to think they can do it all. But everyone needs a helping hand now and then—and who among us isn’t grateful to feel needed? So the next time you start to get stuck—instead of getting more overwhelmed, practice asking for help with these simple tips. The more you go for it, the easier it will get.

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Protect Yourself in Summer Heat

Online Buzz: Protect Yourself in Summer Heat: Although anyone can succumb to heat-related illness, people over 65 are at higher risk, partly because they don’t sweat as efficiently and have decreased circulation. To keep seniors safe in summer heat, try following these tips.

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Letting Go: The Healing Power of Grief

Letting Go: The Healing Power of Grief: Grief is the emotional process we go through when we lose a loved one. Though people who are grieving do not necessarily move precisely through set stages of grief, grieving does have some common characteristics.

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Law designed to prevent drug shortages should bring peace of mind to parents of kids with cancer

Law designed to prevent drug shortages should bring peace of mind to parents of kids with cancer, Grand Rapids doctor says | MLive.com: For several years, doctors and parents caring for children with cancer have had to cope with sudden, unpredictable shortages of the drugs needed to treat the disease. Now, changes designed to provide a more consistent supply of medication are providing peace of mind for caregivers.

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Mute Girl Thought to Be Mentally Retarded Finds her Voice

Mute Girl Thought to Be Mentally Retarded Finds her Voice: Carly can't speak. Many people called her dumb or mentally retarded. But after she turned 11 years old, she discovered something truly incredible and found her voice. This is a must see video.

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Study: Parents of Kids With Disabilities Beating Abortion Culture

Study: Parents of Kids With Disabilities Beating Abortion Culture | LifeNews.com: A new study published this week in the highly accredited pediatric medicine journal, Pediatrics, reveals social networks are trumping the medical establishment. The study is entitled The Experience of Families with Children with Trisomy 13 and 18 in Social Networks. It shows families are proving to the medical community that their children’s lives, no matter how long, have value and are worthy of care and treatment.

From the abstract: "Parents reported being told that their child was incompatible with life (87%), would live a life of suffering (57%), would be a vegetable (50%), or would ruin their family (23%). . . . Parents who engage with parental support groups may discover an alternative positive description about children with T13-18. Disagreements about interventions may be the result of different interpretations between families and providers about the experiences of disabled children and their quality of life."

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition newsletter online

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition newsletter

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'Why me, God?' Understanding Suffering

'Why me, God?' Understanding Suffering, by Donel O'Mathuna: Many of the current ethical dilemmas in medicine revolve around suffering. Those experiencing suffering, and watching others suffer, propose ways to deal with the pain. . . . Assisted suicide and euthanasia are proposed as solutions for those suffering too much. New technology is often developed to help people avoid suffering. . . . The lengths to which society goes to avoid suffering reflects an inability to deal with its very existence and to understand the redemptive role it can play in life.

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Responding to Patients in the Persistent Vegetative State - an ethical and legal dilemma

Responding to Patients in the Persistent Vegetative State - an ethical and legal dilemma, by Donel O'Mathuna: There is naturally some alienation between us and those in conditions we do not experience or understand. This is very pronounced with those in PVS. But we can alienate them even more when we classify them abstractly. Even the word "vegetative" in PVS alienates them from us. God has reached across the alienation between us and him. We are similarly called to reach out to the strangers of the world, even those around whom we feel uncomfortable (2 Cor 5:16-21). As we attempt to image him truthfully, we ought to reach across the barriers to those in PVS. Our concern should be how we can act as neighbors towards these patients who are strangers to us in profound ways. In doing so, we may be surprised that they respond more like an image of God than our abstract speculation might predict.

For example, when PVS patients in one nursing home were treated more like persons, they responded accordingly. Often the simplest things made the biggest differences. In most institutions PVS patients continually lie in bed in the same room. As the director of this home stated, "We have found that adequate seating has improved awareness and arousal. . . . Our first object is to get them sitting up. It is amazing the response this produces. Body tone improves, head control appears. They look around and may focus on objects or companions."

. . . Those of us who believe that artificially administered food and fluids should be given to PVS patients may soon be called to pay for it ourselves. The pro-life movement has realized that responding to abortion must include providing shelter and resources to those who choose to keep their babies. If death is redefined to include PVS, private funding will be needed to care for these patients. This will be the price we will pay for upholding the preciousness of all human life.

Our God is in the business of protecting and nourishing broken, discarded lives which seem to have little meaning. He can use these tragedies to let his glory shine into a dark and painful world. His images should respond likewise.

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'Medical Foods' and Supplements for Brain Health Advance

WSJ: As pharmaceutical companies struggle to devise new drugs to treat symptoms of dementia, a host of supplements and products called "medical foods" purporting to improve cognitive function are advancing toward the market.

Unlike drugs, medical foods and more common supplements aren't allowed to claim they help cure illnesses. Medical foods are meant to be used under a doctor's guidance to tackle a specific nutritional deficiency stemming from a disease, often in conjunction with pharmaceuticals to treat the particular ailment. They aren't regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and undergo much less stringent testing than drugs. Some manufacturers require patients to get a doctor's prescription to use medical foods, but not always.

Big food companies see opportunities in medical foods. On Thursday, Nestlé SA said it bought a stake in Accera, maker of milkshakes for Alzheimer's disease patients. And last week at the Alzheimer's Association conference in Vancouver, Canada, French food giant Group Danone SA said a study showed its investigational medical food, Souvenaid, could improve cognitive functioning.

It's expensive to support the disabled -- suicide kits are $39.95

It's expensive to support the disabled -- suicide kits are $39.95 - Winnipeg Free Press: The insidious bottom line is this -- last I looked, a take-home euthanasia kit in Oregon cost $39.95. That's a whole lot less expensive than providing someone with the supports they need to cope with the loss resulting from having a disability, and then providing them with the means to get on with the matters of daily living. It's way cheaper to let people suffer, or cut back services so life is untenable, or subtly convince people with disabilities that they have lives that aren't worth living. Imagine being inundated with the message that you have a right to end your miserable, burdensome, devalued life, because, really, it's your choice. Unfortunately, some people with disabilities are starting to drink that Kool-Aid.

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Commemorating 45 Years of Quadriplegia

Commemorating 45 Years of Quadriplegia | Blog | Joni and Friends: She was only 17 when it happened. A young and vibrant Joni Eareckson Tada snapped her neck in a reckless diving accident, leaving her paralyzed. Faced with life in a wheelchair, Joni could barely hold on to hope. But today, 45 years later, Joni is living out her life serving Christ and people affected by disability. So, how did Joni go from despair and depression to leading a thriving disability ministry? Learn more about Joni’s story through the film that has captivated millions around the world—Joni.

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Doubts emerge about Dutch guidelines for terminal sedation

BioEdge: Doubts emerge about Dutch guidelines for terminal sedation: Should deep, continuous sedation at the end of life really be treated as normal medical practice in the Netherlands, ask three Dutch authors in the Journal of Medical Ethics. Although they do not appear to oppose euthanasia, they argue that “morally problematic aspects inherent to palliative sedation do not get the attention they deserve” under current Guidelines for Palliative Sedation by the Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG).

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2 neurosurgeons banned over experiments on dying patients

2 neurosurgeons banned from human research: A prominent neurosurgeon at the University of California, Davis, was banned from performing medical research on humans after he and a colleague were accused of experimenting on dying brain cancer patients without university permission. Documents show the surgeons got the consent of three terminally ill patients with malignant brain tumors to introduce bacteria into their open head wounds, under the theory that postoperative infections might prolong their lives. Two of the patients developed sepsis and died, the university later determined.

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Right-to-die movement has split into two warring camps

Right-to-die movement has split into two warring camps, says Nitschke | NRL News Today: The right-to-die movement has split into two warring camps, according to Australian euthanasia activist Dr Philip Nitschke. Speaking at the annual conference of right-to-die societies in Zurich, he complained that half of the world federation’s board were critical of his attempts to create a do-it-yourself suicide technology and preferred to trudge along the slow path of legislative change. He denounced them as “as luddites in the face of scientifically-driven technological innovation.”

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Medical Nightmare: Doctors won’t let wife act on behalf of ailing husband

Medical Nightmare: Doctors won’t let wife act on behalf of ailing husband | LifeSiteNews.com: An Ontario woman is crying foul after a team of doctors effectively denied her legal right to act on behalf of her husband who was hospitalized after a stroke. Marilyn met with her husband’s team of doctors who not only refused to change his drug regimen, but threatened that if she did not comply with the drug plan, she would loose her legal power of attorney over her husband.

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Nitschke Doubles Down on Death-on-Demand

Nitschke Doubles Down on Death-on-Demand » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: The assisted suicide movement is so full of pretense. It is “only” about terminal illness when nothing else can be done to end suffering, they coo. Baloney. Well, it is only for the “hopelessly ill.” Baloney. Once one accept the ideology of euthanasia, the only question is how long it takes to get to the death-on-demand terminus.

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A letter from Sherri - Thank you for trying to protect my life.

ALEX SCHADENBERG: A letter from Sherri - Thank you for trying to protect my life.:

"My name is Sherri, I am 32 years old and require a wheelchair. . . . I have read of more cases in both the U.S and Netherlands where innocent people have been murdered under 'assisted suicide' or euthanasia laws and it terrifies me to the core that once again there is fight to legalize this here in Canada. As a person with disabilities I struggle with the lack of accessibility and discrimination but I do love life and want nothing more than to live. A law like this is scarey and if it passes I don't think I could seek any further medical care. I have an abusive family who would love to take advantage of such a law. Thank you again for trying to protect my right to live!"

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Afraid of Spiritual Darkness? Sing a Victory Song!

Afraid of Spiritual Darkness? Sing a Victory Song! | Radio | Joni and Friends: Are you afraid of the dark, like dark thoughts or dark moments? Well, consider singing a song of victory to combat the forces of the enemy. Sing today if you feel darkness.

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Doctors Kill In 14% of Dutch Deaths

Doctors Kill In 14% of Dutch Deaths » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: Articles have celebrated the official 2.8% euthanasia rate. But that doesn’t include assisted suicide (0.2) and the fact that 23% of euthanasia deaths are unreported. So, that brings the official count to about 3.5%. . . . But Wesley Smith's research indicates that about 2% of terminal cases require palliative sedation, which is not killing because it is done at the very end of life and death comes from the disease, not dehydration. Using that figure, about 10% of Dutch deaths were TS slow motion euthanasia. That raises the killing count to nearly 14%.

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Strasbourg hits euthanasia ball back into German courts

Strasbourg hits euthanasia ball back into German courts | News | DW.DE | 19.07.2012: The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that it's up to individual countries to decide on euthanasia.

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47 hours with a prince

47 hours with a prince | LifeSiteNews.com: Hannah recounts being tired and frazzled after the birth of her son, who had been given only a short time to live. She confessed to not knowing how to handle a child that was slipping away. Her husband showed her how. He gently took his son and said, “Well, mate, you’re still here for a reason. And as long as you are still here, I am going to serve you as best I can.” He cradled him and swabbed his dry lips. Read their book, 47 Hours With a Prince.

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