Mike Ervin: Ruben Navarro and Rethinking Donation of My Organs

January 27, 2009crime and punishment, mike ervin, NSCIA, organ donation, Our News & Commentary Blog, Ruben NavarroStephen Drake

…d have gone to prison for eight years in connection with the 2006 death of Ruben Navarro. Navarro’s disability was adrenal leukodystrophy (ALD), which was depicted in the movie “Lorenzo’s Oil.” He was a nursing home resident and one day he was rushed to the hospital because he wasn’t breathing. He was put on a respirator but doctors took him off after only a few days. Navarro‘s mother agreed to donate his organs and Roozrokh came to harvest them….

Canada: Woman Goes on Hunger Strike After Being Denied Basic Care – Help Needed

January 22, 2009action alert, advocacy, als, aspergers, blog recommendations, bloggers, Canada, neglect, Our News & Commentary Blog, palliative careStephen Drake

…in admittance to) (705) 674-9252 1028 South Bay Rd. Sudbury, ON P3E 6J7 Website: http://www.maisonsudburyhospice.org/ Resident Care Coordinator Elaine Klym: elaine@maisonsudburyhospice.org Executive Director is Léo Therrie 5. If you will be in Ontario on January 23, consider joining a protest and march on Minna’s behalf. 6. Join the Facebook group, “Minna’s Hunger Strike–Call to Action for an ALS Patient Denied Care” to learn the latest news on wh…

Emergency Workers Accused of Letting Man Die – And then the Media Engages in a Posthumous Assault

January 12, 2009blog recommendations, crime and punishment, media coverage, neglect, Our News & Commentary Blog, professional accountability, wrongful deathStephen Drake

…he word “neglected” when referring to the circumstances of his death) That site is only one of many news sites that posted the pictures and focused on the “squalid” condition of the home. In many of those sites, comments are dominated by people expressing disgust for Baker and not a little sympathy for the ambulance workers. I’ll say right upfront that this angers and scares me. I have known people whose houses looked like this on the inside. At a…

Nat Hentoff on Obama and Schiavo

March 28, 2008life-ending decisions, media coverage, Our News & Commentary Blog, politics, schiavoStephen Drake

…n and Obama have detailed positions on disability issues on their campaign sites, but it’s not something they talk about in debates or on the stump. I’m not sure if John McCain has any positions on disability issues on his own campaign site, but his silence on our issues is as thorough as his Democrat counterparts. The omission of disability issues in the presidential debates isn’t his main point though: When moderator Tim Russert asked Hillary Cl…

President of ASAN Under Attack – Including Death Threats

May 11, 2009advocacy, autism, inciting violence, neurodiversity, Our News & Commentary BlogStephen Drake

…t itself refers to “killing” the article: I hear that Newsweek is going to run another article allowing the sadist, Ari Ne’eman, to lie to the world about autism. Before that comes out, I think it’s useful for sane people to ask Newsweek to kill this article, or, at least allow us equal space to tell the truth about the horror of autism. But John Best doesn’t end there. The really disturbing, creepy, scary and violent part comes in a comment he su…