Train Wrecks and Being Bushwacked in the Land of Oz – Bill Peace, Danny Robert and Nadina LaSpina report on the Oz Show

October 25, 2011als, assisted suicide, blog recommendations, Danny Robert, Dr. Oz, infotainment, ira byock, media coverage, media issues, Nadina LaSpina, Our News & Commentary Blog, ventilator, william peaceStephen Drake

…ewantstodiewithdignity.Dr.Ablowgavesomegoodarguments,saying “Iwouldneverlegallyallowphysicianstodecidewhoshouldliveandwhoshoulddie…physicianassistedsuicideisaslipperyslope…”ButrightfromthestartitwasveryobviousthatDr.Ozandmostofhisaudiencewerenotinterestedinhearinganyargumentsagainst. ThenDr.OzintroducedDana,anAfricanAmericanwomaninherlate40sorearly50swithALS.Herattendantrolledhertoaspotrightinfrontofthepanel.Shesatinamanualchair,somewhatreclined,w…

RELEASE: Disabililty Rights Activists from NDY and National Council on Disability Featured on Dr. Oz Assisted Suicide Show

November 3, 2011ari ne'eman, assisted suicide, Danny Robert, Dr. Oz, media coverage, media issues, national council on disability, Our News & Commentary Blog, press releaseStephen Drake

…ic… (very exploitative). Then the ventilator mask came off (the ventilator alarmed briefly) and Dana began to speak. She said she had been living with the progression of ALS for 8 years and she was tired. She hated having to depend on others for her care and she couldn’t take it anymore. She said she was depressed, lonely, had no friends left and she wanted to die. Nadina [my life partner] and I looked at each other and said “that’s why she wants…

Canadian Assisted Suicide Case Sparks Dueling Letters on Disability

November 29, 2011Alison Davis, assisted suicide, Canada, Council of Canadians with Disabilities, court cases, diane coleman, disability rights advocates, media issues, Our News & Commentary Blog, Rhonda WiebeStephen Drake

…ase as follows: Carter vs. Attorney General of Canada brings a constitutional challenge to Canada’s laws prohibiting assisted suicide and euthanasia. The case also seeks to legalize these practices as a medical treatment. Last year, a bill in Parliament seeking a similar result was overwhelmingly defeated…. The vote was 228 to 59. Carter seeks to allow a medical practitioner or a person “acting under the general supervision of a medical practition…

Time Magazine – Sloppy and Inaccurate Kevorkian Obit Written by News Director in “Person of the Year” Issue

December 15, 2011assisted suicide, euthanasia, Howard Chua-Eoan, Kevorkian, media issues, obitiatry, Our News & Commentary Blog, reality check, Time magazineStephen Drake

…decry his methods, claiming they skirted the subtleties of psychology and palliative alternatives and that the effectiveness of his death machines robbed the dying of the chance to consider other ways to see out their earthly existence. But Kevorkian’s confidence in his quest remained unruffled. “It’s unstoppable,” he told TIME. “It may not be in my lifetime, but my opponents are going to lose. There’s a lot of human misery out there.” Most reader…

Disability Activists, Advocates and Others Pile on Time Magazine’s Error-Filled Kevorkian Tribute

December 19, 2011assisted suicide, bint alshamsa, blog recommendations, Carol Loving, diane coleman, euthanasia, john kelly, Kendall Corbett, Kevorkian, media issues, Our News & Commentary Blog, Time magazineStephen Drake

…ident and founder of NDY) jumped in with this comment: Slightly more than half of Kevorkian’s reported assisted suicides were women with non-terminal disabilities. Many of these women had multiple sclerosis. One of his earliest was Sherry Miller. In The Suicide Machine, the Detroit Free Press described her as a woman who had been abandoned by her husband, who also took her children. Having known women with MS who raised children, I see Sherry Mill…