…regret at having stood by helplessly as his mother endured a prolonged, excruciating death. Well, that’s a good story, but it may be just a story. And it’s a far cry from the whole story. What the film apparently avoids recounting is this: Kevorkian spent a couple of decades obsessed with the establishment of a medical specialty labeled “obitiatry” – a specialty involving causing the controlled deaths of individuals and exploiting the situation as…
…him. Jane Campbell, chair of the disability committee at the Equality and Human Rights Commission, believes the case sends out a dangerous signal. She says that while it may seem like a personal matter the drip, drip effect of letting such cases go has big implications for society. “While I completely understand the family have to live with the consequences of their actions, [the Crown Prosecution Service] has got to start prosecuting otherwise i…
…mplicitly discriminating against that group and undermining their value as human beings. As he sees it, “euthanasia and assisted suicide gives society a great way to divest itself of people that they see as a burden while patting themselves on the back as being compassionate and noble”. There is a button that links you to the audio of the show in the URL linked above. (Looks like it uses Windows mediaplayer, at least on my system) But you can also…
…ndignity.” Jackie Betancourt, the daughter and surrogate decisionmaker for Ruben Betancourt, who was the patient that was at the center of this court case, left a comment in response to yesterday’s blog. I’m reproducing it here: I am the daughter of Ruben Betancourt, i went to court today & stood at the door with my mother, listening, i just want to say “thank you” from the bottom of my heart!!! My father was a fighter…& he would be very proud!!!!…
…of the horrors, but we all agree that we must be as sweet and compliant as humanly possible in order to hope for decent treatment. My medical provider is an innovator in home-based care for adults with severe disabilities. The practice has been in the business 30 years and is now expanding its services to include all disabled adults with eligibility for both Medicaid and Medicare. This is a Onecare demonstration project under the ACA. The medical…
