Euthanasia News and Research

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Accusations reflect conflicting beliefs about care, says commentary in Mayo Clinic Proceedings

In a recent survey of palliative care medicine practitioners, nearly three quarters of the sample reported having been "humorously" accused of promoting death; for example, being called "Dr. Death." Most of the remarks came from fellow physicians and other health care professionals. At the same time, the survey found that a third of investigations into accusations of murder or euthanasia against physicians are instigated by fellow members of the health care team.

4 Sep 2012

Medical ethics: an interview with Anita Silvers

Medical ethics assists healthcare professionals to make decisions respectful of persons who happen to be their patients.

13 Aug 2012

Organ donation: an interview with David Shaw

Most donors die in intensive care units, frequently after car accidents. Once it is clear that recovery is out of the question, families will be told that further treatment is futile and the issue of donation can be sensitively raised.

9 Aug 2012

Euthanasia and assisted suicide rates in the Netherlands comparable to rates before legalisation

2010 rates of euthanasia and assisted suicide in the Netherlands were comparable to levels before the practices were legalised in 2002, according to new research published Online First in The Lancet and conducted by a Dutch research team from Erasmus MC University Medical Centre, Rotterdam; VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam; Statistics Netherlands, The Hague; and Utrecht’s University Medical Centre.

11 Jul 2012

Call for medical bodies to stop opposing assisted dying supported by BMJ

The BMJ today supports a call for leading UK medical bodies to stop opposing assisted dying for terminally ill, mentally competent adults.

14 Jun 2012

People afraid of dying badly rather than actually dying

"What people are afraid of is dying badly rather than actually dying". I-aki Olaizola has observed how Basque society feels about euthanasia and the process of dying, and how the perception has changed since the 1970s.

30 May 2012

First Edition: April 18, 2012

Today's health policy headlines include reports about how a one-year experiment on Medicare competitive bidding showed positive results in terms of saving money as well as reducing waste and fraud.

19 Apr 2012

Viewpoints: Santorum pushed Romney on health care; GOP's 'classic male mistake'; ACOs and the anti-trust challenge

The Pennsylvanian was also by far the most effective Republican critic of RomneyCare. When he stood on stage in a debate and took apart the Massachusetts health law as a prototype for ObamaCare, Mr. Romney realized he couldn't coast to the nomination. That's when the former Massachusetts Governor came out with his own tax cut and tax reform plan to appeal to economic conservatives.

12 Apr 2012

The Contraception Mandate is the end of individual liberty

In March 2010, the Democrat-controlled Congress forced the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (now known as ObamaCare) over the strong objections of the majority of Americans, most of whom were either already receiving taxpayer-funded health insurance or were satisfied with their private coverage.

5 Mar 2012

Dutch mobile euthanasia units stir controversy

Controversy has been stirred by a system of mobile euthanasia units that will travel around the country to respond to the wishes of sick people who wish to end their lives in the Netherlands.

4 Mar 2012

Texas abortion issue back in court today

A Federal judge in Austin holds another hearing on Texas law requiring women seeking an abortion to have a sonogram. Also, NPR looks at the growing number of restrictions across the country.

21 Jan 2012

Evaluating passive harms requires more thought, finds study

People typically say they are invoking an ethical principle when they judge acts that cause harm more harshly than willful inaction that allows that same harm to occur. That difference is even codified in criminal law.

3 Dec 2011

State roundup: Florida's growing Medicaid costs; Missouri insurance rates; Maryland's unspent disabilities money

Florida Governor Rick Scott said he has whittled down a corporate tax-relief plan compared with what he sought last year because of a ballooning deficit driven by health-care spending. "Medicaid is growing way faster than we thought," the former hospital executive said yesterday. ... Florida, which closed a $3.8 billion budget gap for fiscal 2012, is facing another of as much as $2.3 billion next year.

2 Dec 2011

Veterinary medicine students more likely to struggle with depression

Veterinary medicine students are more likely to struggle with depression than human medicine students, undergraduate students and the general population, according to several recent collaborative studies from Kansas State University researchers.

29 Jul 2011

Roll over Hippocrates: Medicine undergoing revolution of overturning traditional ethics

Everybody seems to think that doctors swear to the Oath of Hippocrates, and follow a long ethical tradition dating back to the 5th century before Christ. Not anymore. The new doctors seem to be making it up as they go along.

27 Jun 2011

Koreans show positive attitude towards end-of-life care for cancer patients: Study

Attitudes toward end-of-life care for cancer patients vary, but most patients, family members, oncologists and members of the public are receptive to withdrawing futile life-sustaining treatments in people who are dying, found a Korean study in CMAJ.

31 May 2011

UK doctors' and the public's attitudes differ over euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide

A review of research carried out over 20 years suggests that UK doctors appear to consistently oppose euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS). The findings - which appear in the latest issue of the journal Palliative Medicine, published by SAGE - highlight a gap between doctors' attitudes and those of the UK public.

10 Mar 2011

Survey: 72% of locked-in syndrome patients are happy

Most "locked-in syndrome" patients say they are happy, and many of the factors reported by those who say they are unhappy can be improved, suggest the results of the largest survey of its kind, published in the launch issue of the new online journal BMJ Open.

25 Feb 2011

Viewpoints: Where is the surgeon general; Unions' health law waivers; Mass. plan to aid municipalities

Although some of the nation's healthcare issues are abstruse and vexing, others are relatively approachable. Many in this latter category fall within the province of the U.S. surgeon general. But the incumbent is nowhere to be found.

29 Jan 2011

Majority of the public favor physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients in great pain

A new Harris/BBC World News America poll finds that large majorities of Americans now favor physician assisted suicide and euthanasia for terminally ill patients in great pain who wish to end their lives. It also finds that a majority of people over 65 now have written directives regarding the type of care they would like to receive, or not to receive, at the end stages of their lives.

25 Jan 2011