Paralysed man who wanted ‘right to be killed’ loses case

Paralysed man who wanted ‘right to be killed’ loses case | News | The Christian Institute: High Court judges have ruled that doctors cannot kill a severely paralysed man, in a landmark euthanasia case. The ruling has been welcomed by pro-lifers, who say legalizing euthanasia would put vulnerable people at risk.

Tony Nicklinson’s ‘locked-in’ condition means his mind is active but he cannot move most of his body. He communicates by blinking. Mr Nicklinson was seeking euthanasia, and not assisted suicide. The High Court also ruled against a second man, known only as ‘Martin’, who asked for the right to call on others to help him die.

Lord Justice Toulson, who was sitting with two other judges, noted that the cases of Mr Nicklinson and Martin were “deeply moving”, but it was not for the court to change the law in this area.

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Docs criticise religious parents for prolonging life support

Docs criticise religious parents for prolonging life support | News | The Christian Institute: Doctors writing in the Journal of Medical Ethics have strongly criticized religious parents who refuse to agree to the withdrawal of medical treatment from their critically ill children. They said fundamentalist Christians with African roots were a particular problem because they expressed “expectation of miraculous intervention.” The doctors are calling for a review of the legal system so that parents’ religious beliefs carry less weight.

But a legal expert from Oxford University has accused the doctors of reducing children’s best interests to essentially medical criteria. Charles Foster said the doctors “seem to think that because we are becoming an increasingly ‘secular society’ there is some sort of democratically ordained mandate to impose secular values on everyone.”

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Euthanasia is a Cultural Addiction

Euthanasia is a Cultural Addiction » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: The Netherlands opened the doors to euthanasia way back in 1973. Since then, it has fallen off a vertical moral cliff with the killing agenda having spread to the pediatric wards, the mentally ill, and now stalking the elderly “tired of life.”

But even that isn’t enough. The cultural death addiction is now spreading, to the point that people want to be able to do each other. That process is moving ahead with Hemlock Society type advocacy of assisted suicide proselytizing. From the Radio Netherlands story:

A special website has been launched in the Netherlands for people who assist family or friends to commit suicide and want to tell their stories anonymously, or simply ask questions. Assisted suicide carried out by lay people is currently punishable by law.

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Sanctity of life law "gone too far"?

Sanctity of life law has gone too far | BMJ: In a recent court case involving removal of "artificial" nutrition and hydration, a judge said, “[given] the importance of the sanctity of life, and the fatal consequences of withdrawing treatment, and the absence of an advance decision that complied with the requirements previously specified by the common law and now under statute, it would in my judgment be wrong to attach significant weight to those statements made prior to her collapse.” Medical ethics professor Raanon Gillion thinks two aspects of this judgment are "profoundly disturbing."

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Doctors debate physician assisted suicide in MA

• Dr. Marcia Angell: Ballot question to allow physician aid in dying respects patient wishes - Boston Medical News - White Coat Notes - Boston.com:
• Dr. Barbara Rockett: Physician-assisted suicide “in direct conflict” with doctor’s role

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Palliative Medicine Society goes on the front foot

Palliative Medicine Society goes on the front foot | NRL News Today: “We should focus on excellence of hospice and palliative care not euthanasia.” The Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine believes that the practice of euthanasia and assisted suicide are outside the discipline of Palliative Medicine. The Society endorses the New Zealand Medical Association’s Position Statement on Euthanasia, and similarly the World Medial Association’s which state that euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide are unethical. This position is not dependent on euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide remaining unlawful. Even if they were to become legal, or decriminalised, the NZMA would continue to regard them as unethical.

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4 ways to relieve chronic pain without pills

Chronic Pain - Exercise, Weight Loss, and Meditation for Pill-Free Pain Relief - RealAge:  Plus 5 myths about chronic pain.

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An epidemic of special needs kids heads for a crisis of care

An epidemic of special needs kids heads for a crisis of care - Newsweek and The Daily Beast: The special-needs population is growing. Government funding is shrinking. The coming crisis for millions of parents.

Editor: An epidemic? Children with disabilities are like a disease? What a poor choice of wording!

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Assisted Suicide Backers Confident They'll Win in Massachusetts

Assisted Suicide Backers Confident They'll Win in Massachusetts | LifeNews.com: “We’re confident … that we’ll be successful in November,” said Stephen Crawford, communications director of the pro-assisted suicide “Dignity 2012” campaign. Media coverage of the debate has been decidedly in favor of the proposal. According to Loughman, the press has used the word “medication,” which should cure, instead of the descriptive, “lethal dose.”

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What does it mean to carry your cross?

Joni & Friends: I have looked at my wheelchair as my cross to bear, but is it? What exactly isthe cross I am to take up daily? What about you? Is your cross your arthritis, a dead end job? Is your cross to bear an unhappy marriage, or recurring headaches? Are these the things the Lord had in mind when He told us to take up our cross daily and follow Him?

Well, I think the answer to that question can be found in the cross of Christ, because when He took up His cross, He was taking on the sins of the world; He was bearing our transgressions; He was willing to be nailed to the cross and die for our sins. And friend, that right there helps shape our view on what it should mean to take up our cross daily. It basically means to die to the sins that Jesus died for on His cross. In other words, my cross to bear is not my wheelchair, it’s my rotten attitude about my wheelchair; it’s the fear and the anxiety, the anger I sometimes have when everything about my disability seems to go wrong at once. It’s the occasional doubts I have about God being in control. These are the things I must die to, because these are the sins Christ died for. So when I take up my cross daily, I purpose to be like Jesus. I want to die to sin and live for God.

Complete Guide to Caring for Aging Loved Ones

Christianbook.com: Complete Guide to Caring for Aging Loved Ones: Edited By: Henry Holstege, Robert Rickse By: Focus on the Family: 9781414301600: Whether you're facing the prospect of caring for an aging loved one or are currently in the midst of it, here's the help and hope you need to manage the practical, emotional and spiritual aspects of caregiving. This long-overdue reference deals with important topics like understanding your multiple roles as caregiver, finding quality medical, financial and legal advice, and many other end-of-life issues. Paperback.

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Surgeons balk at withdrawing life support after medical errors

Surgeons balk at withdrawing life support after medical errors - amednews.com: They feel responsible for their patients’ welfare and want to see them pull through after high-risk procedures, according to a new study.

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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.