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

…of his house on the web. (if you check out that link, you’ll find that SkyNews refers to Mr. Baker with scare quotes around the 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…

Bill Peace in Hastings Center Bioethics Forum: “Euthanasia in Belgium: The Untold Story”

February 12, 2013Belgium, bigotry, bill peace, disability, disability activists, disability rights, discrimination, euthanasia, misinformation, misrepresentation, Our News & Commentary BlogStephen Drake

…periencing “unbearable pain.” The Verbessem case has generated controversy worldwide. Multiple news reports characterized the deaths as a mercy killing. The message was clear: death is a logical and reasonable option if a person will become deaf-blind. By logical extension there are some disabilities that are a fate worse than death. One does not need to be terminally ill to be euthanized. Read more: http://www.thehastingscenter.org/Bioethicsforum…

Minimally Conscious State, Research, and the Elephant in the Living Room

September 25, 2007bioethics, life-ending decisions, Our News & Commentary Blog, researchStephen Drake

…for dead in a robbery while walking home one night in 1999. His skull was crushed and his brain severely damaged. For six years, the man could not speak or feed himself. On occasion he showed signs of awareness, and he moved his eyes or a thumb to communicate. His arms were useless. He was fed through a tube. But researchers chose him for an experimental attempt to rev up his brain by placing electrodes in it. And here’s how his mother describes t…

From Stephen Mendelsohn: More Media, Etc. From Connecticut Hearings on Assisted Suicide

March 25, 2013assisted suicide, Connecticut, disability activists, disability rights advocates, legislation, media coverage, Our News & Commentary Blog, Second ThoughtsStephen Drake

…wtnh.com/dpp/news/politics/weighing-in-on-assisted-suicide#.UVAfWDcsDRp CT News Junkie: http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/ctnj.php/archives/entry/right-to-die_or_assisted_suicide/ Picture from Second Thoughts Connecticut press conference, on the website of Senator Joe Markley: http://farm9.static.flickr.com/8509/8574564003_4797be77d7_b.jpg (I am standing on the left, and next to Cathy in the second video above) (Editor – Stephen Mendelsohn on left and n…

Final Exit Network Members Passing Off “Boilerplate” Op-eds As Original Work?

March 31, 2009ethics, final exit network, media coverage, media issues, Our News & Commentary BlogStephen Drake

…more of these. I learned a lesson these past few days about how little one newspaper – the Summit Daily News – seems to care if columns aren’t exactly “original work.” I called the managing editor at the paper and left voice mail asking if they had a policy in regard to columns and op-eds being original work. I sent email to the same editor asking the same question and gave a link to the Wettstein op-ed in the Arizona Daily Star. To date, there ha…