reports: Alex Schadenberg  Continue reading

  It has often been observed that, to make palatable what is decidedly unpalatable, euthanasia bills invariably use all sorts of euphemisms to attempt to soften or obliterate the reality that euthanasia is nothing more that deliberate killing under the cover of state approval.  Continue reading

This is an important read about the problems with the Liverpool Care Pathway and its use in the UK. It is also worth reading this from the point of view of euthanasia because it gives an insight into what happens in practice when a protocol with very clear intentions falls into disuse and misuse over time.   writes:Alex Schadenberg Continue reading

Alex Schadenberg comments on the unfortunate circumstances faced by pro-euthanasia academic, Margaret Battin as she struggles with the reality of supporting her husband who became a quadriplegic after a cycling accident. We hold every sympathy for Ms Battin and her husband.  For many years, Margaret Battin has been a well known leader of the assisted suicide lobby in America. Over the past few years she has become known for the care of her husband, Brooke Hopkins, who experienced a bicycle accident, in which he broke his neck and has been living with quadriplegia since November 14, 2008. Continue reading

Following on the furore over   (yesterday), this is a good news story about how one European nation honours its elders:Elder Abuse in Australian aged care facilities Continue reading

The last night ran a shocking story about Elder Abuse in Australian nursing homes. Whilst the Federal Minister, Jacinta Collins MP rightly observed that these cases are a small minority of issues given the numbers of Australians in such care, she also did not shy away from the serious nature of these issues.ABC's Continue reading

The Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP), a controversial protocol designed originally to ensure that patients at the end-of-life receive appropriate care, has come under severe criticism over the last year and more, prompting a high-level Health Department Inquiry into its operation. The Department of Health (DoH) in England set up an independent review amid fears the LCP was being used to hasten death, to clear beds and save money, and that patients or their families were not being consulted.As this BBC report explains, even though there are many who defend the LCP who clearly have been using it appropriately, there have been many reported cases of abuse and misapplication of the process that have resulted int he premature death of patients. Continue reading

John Cleese's famous character Basil Fawlty, in an incoherent state in the famous Fawtly Towers episode, screeched repeatedly (and ignored himself) the phrase, 'Don't mention the War!' Anti-euthanasia campaigners were once counselled likewise not to mention the Nazi horrors.  Yet the aphorism that 'those who fail to remember the past are doomed to repeat it' also has currency. At the announcement of a new memorial to the horrors of the T4 program, which was the precursor to the Nazi death camps, it's worth recalling where and how this tragic period in world history actually began. Continue reading

Dr Chai Patel, who overseas 230 nursing homes in Britain is calling for establishment of suicide clinics.  According to the  Continue reading

The Dignitas suicide clinic in Basel Switzerland caused the death of Pietro D'Amico, a 62-year-old magistrate from Calabria in southern Italy, in April, 2013 after D'Amico received a wrong diagnosis.  Assisting suicide and euthanasia must be prohibited because the decision of one person to end the life of another person is irrevocable. People who are not terminal or living with depression, cannot be treated for their condition once they are dead. Continue reading