The first time I ever heard of Dr. Phil McGraw was in the late summer of 2002 when I got a call from one of his producers. First, she had to explain to me just who “Dr.Phil” was. By now, anyone reading this knows his history with Oprah and his trajectory into his own show, […]
This is a story that has been developing over the past few days and it has more than a few twists. Here’s one of the most comprehensive news stories on the case from Wave3 News in Louisville, KY: ELIZABETHTOWN, KY (WAVE) – Was it assisted suicide or cold blooded murder? That’s the question Michele Daugherty’s friends have […]
As anyone who follows the news of old, ill, and disabled people who get killed by family members or “caregivers,” it’s all to clear that if the perpetrator claims the act was a “mercy killing,” it’s frequently a successful defense strategy. The public tends to believe that the victim would have wanted to die, even […]
You can’t make up stuff like this. Having been on the “assisted suicide/euthanasia/better dead than disabled” beat for more years than I want to recall, I get to the point where I figure I’ve seen just about every ridiculous thing that could possibly be thrown into the pro-euthanasia mix. Boy, was I wrong. Meet Dr. […]
Well, last week’s “inspirational crip story” in the UK was about Richard Rudd, who was saved from being disconnected from life-sustaining treatment by being able to blink on request and to communicate his wish to live – contrary to his advance directive and prior statements to family. I guess that a story built on the […]
Texas has a reputation for doling out pretty harsh treatment when it comes to murder. Apparently – in Austin, anyway – exceptions will be made if the victim is devalued enough. Last Friday, Katherine “Kim” Yarbrough received ten years of probation in a plea bargain. Yarbrough had admitted to killing her husband, Lloyd Yarbrough. Nevertheless, […]
Here are a few recent killings that have made news around the country – New Rochelle man charged with murder in ‘mercy killing’ (NY): Paul Weinstein told police that an argument with his wife ”set him off“ and that he shot her dead in their New Rochelle home after he failed to suffocate her with […]
Many people with disabilities have a deep-seated loathing of the word “special.” It’s a term of dismissal, patronization, and discrimination. And that’s just a starting list. Unfortunately until “special education” and “special olympics” get called by other names, we don’t have a prayer of shaking the term off for any length of time with any […]
Today’s NY Times includes a story on the Final Exit Network (FEN) by Robbie Brown titled “Arrests Draw New Attention to Assisted Suicide.” The article’s strongest point is that it clearly states the allegations by an agent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation posing as a man with cancer wanting the group’s assistance in planning […]
In case you’re wondering, the Final Exit Network and its “work” was never a secret. In fact, they got a big boost of publicity nearly a year ago, from NY Times Health columnist Jane E. Brody. The column – and her promotion of Final Exit Network – was addressed in this blog: After laying out […]
