New Study in BMJ Indicates People with Clinical Depression Getting Lethal Prescriptions in Oregon

October 8, 2008assisted suicide, Oregon, Our News & Commentary Blog, policy, reality check, researchStephen Drake

…news release about the study, published online Oct. 8 by the British Medical Journal. The act does contain several safeguards to ensure patients are competent to make the decision to end their life, including referral to a psychologist or psychiatrist, if there’s concern that a mental illness may be impairing a patient’s judgment. However, depression is often overlooked in mentally ill patients. In 2007, none of the 46 people in Oregon who used p…

Maryland: New Factually-Impaired Op-Ed from Final Exit Network – and My Response

June 9, 2010assisted suicide, Compassion & Choices, Conflation and Con jobs, crime and punishment, final exit network, media coverage, op-ed, Our News & Commentary BlogStephen Drake

…man successfully treated for cancer, and who was depressed over the surgical alterations to his physical appearance. Autopsy found him to be cancer-free. Search for op-eds by FEN members and you’ll find the claims that members make about their goals, methods and “clients” to vary widely — apparently, they can’t keep their stories straight. The journalists at the paper might want to actually do some research and reporting on this case before givin…

Please Support Not Dead Yet With a Year-End Donation

December 29, 2010activism, advocacy, assisted suicide, Back Door Euthanasia, donations, Not Dead Yet, Our News & Commentary BlogStephen Drake

…llness (less than six months to live) as advertised, people with non-terminal physical, cognitive and psychiatric disabilities, as well as chronic illnesses, are often affected by these practices. Since 1997 NDY has drawn attention to the disability-rights implications of assisted suicide, euthanasia, and medical killing by filing friend-of-the-court briefs, organizing demonstrations at meetings of the Hemlock Society (and its successor, Compassio…

Media Alert – Looks Like “Dr. Oz” Is Planning Slanted Show on Assisted Suicide

October 18, 2011assisted suicide, barbara coombs lee, Dr. Oz, ira byock, keith ablow, media coverage, media issues, Our News & Commentary Blog, right to dieStephen Drake

…ice of opposition to assisted suicide and can speak eloquently as to how quality palliative care and hospice render any “need” for assisted suicide moot. Because he spends his professional life helping real patients and families facing impending death, he’s also not likely to have much familiarity with the intricacies of the practices and rhetoric of the assisted suicide movement in cases where they’ve moved beyond “terminal” as the important crit…

Diane Coleman Counters Support for Assisted Suicide with Reality Check in Her Hometown Paper

October 26, 2011assisted suicide, kalamazoo, Kevorkian, margaret dore, media coverage, michigan, Our News & Commentary BlogStephen Drake

…ents have a condition that causes them great pain, a slow death, and eventual loss of mental ability.” In contrast, according to the Oregon Reports, only 15 % of the people were reported to have actual pain or concern about future pain as a reason for requesting a lethal prescription, and this reason was attributed to only 21% over all 13 years of reports. It’s hard to know how she came up with the “eventual loss of mental ability” factor either….