Euthanasia debate: Is there dignity in death, or does palliative care kill?

As debate rages about whether euthanasia should be legalised, a palliative care expert is urging MPs to spare a thought for doctors who would have to carry out the act.

For Dr Ian Gwynne-Robson, medical director of Te Omanga Hospice in Lower Hutt, the idea of having to kill someone flies in the face of the medical commandment "first, do no harm". That's why, since the End of Life Choice Bill was introduced, he has been a vocal opponent.

He says he is acting as a voice of the patients whom the legislation is most likely to affect.

Nurse thought they gave patient something to ‘relax.’ It was execution drug, report says

Nurse thought they gave patient something to ‘relax.’ It was execution drug, report says

A nurse at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University Medical Center thought they were giving a frightened patient “something to help (them) relax.” Instead, the nurse mistakenly administered a fatal dose of a drug sometimes used to execute condemned prisoners, WTVF reported.

You Have The Right To Live The Choice Is Yours

You Have The Right To Live The Choice Is Yours

Individuals with disabilities, the elderly and the terminal have the right to provider support that is free from policies and procedures that are restrictive and limiting in nature and/or impose restraints to control symptoms and behaviors, denying them life-supporting options.

Our intent is to change public opinion on an individual’s right to die, also called a death with dignity or physician assisted death, and instead focus on ones right to live out their lives to the fullest regardless of disability, age or co-morbid conditions.

​This includes advocating for behavior and safety supports for these individuals, especially when they cannot voice for themselves; instead of using chemical and physical restraints as symptom and behavior controls, or denying provider support in effort to usher in a patient's right to die under a manipulated death practice used in the dying field.

BreakPoint: Assisted Suicide and Manipulating the Vulnerable A Cautionary Tale from Down Under

BreakPoint: Assisted Suicide and Manipulating the Vulnerable

A Cautionary Tale from Down Under

No matter what advocates claim, in the end, assisted suicide will eventually lead to the most vulnerable among us being pressured to die.

Graham Morant, a 68-year-old man from Australia, was recently convicted by a Queensland court and sentenced to ten years in prison. His crime was counseling his wife to commit suicide.

Your Rights in the Emergency Room

Your Rights in the Emergency Room
Nov. 29, 2018 -- The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA, guarantees a certain level of medical care to anyone who comes to an emergency department that accepts payments from Medicare or Medicaid.

Lives Lost When ERs Break the Law

Lives Lost When ERs Break the Law An investigation by WebMD and Georgia Health News. Nov. 29, 2018 -- Randy Strickland walked into the ER at North Metro Medical Center burning with fever and trembling. He told the man and the woman who were staffing the triage desk that he was nauseated and felt like he needed to throw up. The emergency room was nearly empty. Randy was a volunteer at the Jacksonville, AR, hospital and hoped he would get home quickly.

Are doctors in Belgium and the Netherlands getting away with murder? Yes and so are the Doctors in the U.S.

Are doctors in Belgium and the Netherlands getting away with murder?

Doctors accused of illegally euthanizing patients in two countries are being prosecuted for killing mental patients, but they likely will not go to jail – even if they are found guilty. 

Belgium courts have now agreed to hear arguments from a 2010 situation in which three doctors were accused of euthanizing a woman who was supposedly autistic.