NDY Release: “Me Before You” Protesters Call For PSA To Prevent Copycat Suicides

August 1, 2016assisted suicide, center for disability rights, Me Before You, million dollar baby, Our News & Commentary Blog, suicide preventionassisted suicide, Me Before You, suicideDiane Coleman

…John Kelly 617-536-5140 For Immediate Release: “Me Before You” Protesters Call For PSA To Prevent Copycat Suicides Disability rights advocates who protested the film “Me Before You” in cities across the United States are calling on Warner Brothers to add a public service announcement to further releases of the film to help prevent copycat suicides. In a letter sent today to Kevin Tsujihara, CEO of Warner Brothers, 19 national and 25 state, local…

Oregon State Assisted Suicide Reports Substantiate Critics’ Concerns

October 4, 2016"death with dignity", aid in dying, assisted suicide, dredf, elder abuse, Oregon Assisted Suicide Data, Our News & Commentary Blogaid in dying, assisted suicide, death with dignity, Oregon Assisted Suicide DataDiane Coleman

…r. Kathleen Foley, please read Physician-Assisted Suicide in Oregon: A Medical Perspective. The focus of the discussion below is the Oregon Health Division data. These reports are based on forms filed with the state by the physicians who prescribe lethal doses and the pharmacies that dispense the drugs. As the early state reports admitted: “As best we could determine, all participating physicians complied with the provisions of the Act. . . . Unde…

NDY Urges AMA To Affirm Longstanding Opposition to Legalizing Assisted Suicide

February 15, 2017aid in dying, AMA, AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, assisted suicide, Our News & Commentary Blogaid in dying, American Medical Association, assisted suicide, death with dignity, Oregon Assisted Suicide DataDiane Coleman

…o send a supplemental message to the AMA. In recent years, a few state medical societies have gone neutral on the issue. Among other reasons, they seem to be buying the unsupportable claim that there have been no problems in Oregon. As I and many others have tried to convey, there is much evidence to back up our concerns, including the Oregon state reports themselves. My supplemental message to the AMA follows below. Supplemental Submission to the…

John Kelly’s Full Written Testimony In Opposition to New Jersey Assisted Suicide Bill

…When it comes to life and death, there is no such thing as “reasonable medical certainty.” Of the millions of misdiagnoses every year, many are terminal misdiagnoses. We know this because of the thousands of people who “graduate” from hospice each year. The Medicare hospice benefit limits eligibility to people “reasonably expected” by a doctor to live less than six months, but the six-month terminal window is arbitrary, having more to do with cong…

John Kelly: Movies Can Send A Dangerous Message About Suicide and Disability

October 14, 2016better dead than disabled, john kelly, Me Before You, Our News & Commentary Blog, suicide, suicide preventionbetter dead than disabled, John Kelly, Me Before You, suicide preventionDiane Coleman

…sability rights advocates around the country, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand held protests against the movie “Me Before You” for its hateful message that some disabled people are better off dead. John shares the same disability as the fictional Will in the movie, who has everything in his life he would want, except that he is a quadriplegic. So he kills himself, and leaves his girlfriend money so that she might “live boldly.” After helping to…