Let’s Have a REAL Discussion: Bioethicists Preach, Fail to Teach on Brain Death

January 7, 2014bioethics, brain death, brain injury, media coverage, media issues, medical issues, Our News & Commentary BlogArt Caplan, bioethics, brain death, brain injury, Jahi McMath, Zack DunlapStephen Drake

…nent bioethics pundit and writer on the situation. (Note: several articles combine commentaries on Jahi McMath’s situation and the Texas case of a family fighting to have life-sustaining technology removed from a young woman – she carries a fetus and Texas law mandates that life-support be maintained until the fetus can be delivered, even in the case of brain death of the mother. It’s received less attention and we’re not addressing the issues in…

The Guardian (UK) – Charlotte Raven: Should I take my own life?

January 20, 2010assisted suicide, euthanasia, huntington's chorea, media coverage, Our News & Commentary Blog, suicide, United KingdomStephen Drake

…es were all kept under wraps. I became fascinated by Wexler’s report of a community of HD sufferers in Venezuela where, through an accident of history, HD has become endemic. Her account of the inhabitants of the fishing villages on the shores of Lake Maracaibo was shocking and compelling, and eventually I decided to go there myself. En route to Barranquitas, I worried my curiosity might prove ill-advised. An article in Business Week said the…

Vermont: VPR Debate on Proposed “Death With Dignity” Legislation

March 9, 2011"death with dignity", assisted suicide, media coverage, Our News & Commentary Blog, vermontStephen Drake

…f-life palliative care, and who supports the bill. She says that it really comes down to patient choice and control. (Barnard) “The important thing to stay focused on is the right of an individual to have decision making ability at a point in their lives when death is certain. Death is coming” (Fields) But the Vermont Coalition for Disability Rights is opposed to the legislation. The group’s president is Ed Paquin . He says the bill would be bad p…

New “futile care” promotion includes attack on ADA

May 21, 2008Americans with Disabilities Act, bioethics, futile care, lifeboat ethics, medical decisionmaking, Our News & Commentary BlogStephen Drake

…care committee) is available within the hospital should conflict arise. The committee will render judgment within one working day. Fisher’s also not shy when it comes to self-promotion. The sample fax he provides so that you can email your congressional reps comes complete with a glowing recommendation from you – urging the congressional rep to read his book. So for those of us who have been concerned with the rising juggernaut of “futile care” p…

Study: Treatment Withdrawal & Death for Patients with Severe Brain Injury Vary By Hospital

September 15, 2011"miracles", brain injury, Canada, coma, medical decisionmaking, organ donation, Our News & Commentary Blog, recovery, research, rush to judgment, thaddeus popeStephen Drake

…available in pdf. Early in the article, the authors highlight the lack of reliable reliable predictive tools in terms the “meaningful recovery of individuals with severe traumatic brain injury (but, as the researchers find, that doesn’t prevent predictions from being made very early). They assert a need for understanding more about treatment withdrawal decisions in the context of the ongoing discussions regarding organ donation: The subjective na…