New Hampshire: House Judiciary Committee Votes Against Assisted Suicide Bill

November 12, 2009assisted suicide, legislation, New Hampshire, Our News & Commentary Blog, policyStephen Drake

…January. If the chamber accepts the committee recommendation, legislative rules make it nearly impossible for the issue to be brought up again next year. Good news, but there is reason to remain vigilant. Allies in the state tell us that it’s highly unusual for the full legislature to approve a measure defeated in committee, but it is possible. Assisted Suicide activists could make a push for a full vote – or they might decide this could be a yea…

Art Caplan “Debunks” 23-year Misdiagnosis of PVS in Belgium, But Omits Some Details

November 25, 2009Art Caplan, bioethics, locked-in syndrome, media coverage, Our News & Commentary Blog, pvs, rom houben, steven laureysStephen Drake

Over the past week, there has been a lot of news coverage regarding the case of Rom Houben, a man in Belgium who was labeled as being in a persistent vegetative state. He was severely injured in an auto accident in 1983, and since shortly after that has been regarded as being in a persistent vegetative state. Twenty-three years later, things looked very different. Houben’s family believed he still had consciousness. He was fortunate enough to com…

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

…y, I tested positive for Huntington’s disease. The nurse who delivered the news hugged me consolingly and left me with my husband and a mug of sweet tea to cry. In the days that followed, I began to realise why so few of the people at risk of inheriting this incurable neurodegenerative disorder chose to find out. This incuriosity had seemed to me irresponsible. Having discovered the previous year that my father had the disease, I had been offer…

NewsBiscuit: “Homeopath to start offering ‘assisted-suicide’ remedy” (UK)

January 29, 2013humor, NewsBiscuit, Our News & Commentary Blog, parody, satireStephen Drake

…decided to jump into the arena of assisted suicide. From NewsBiscuit – The News Before It Happens… Homeopath to start offering ‘assisted-suicide’ remedy A homeopath in Banbury has decided to take politics into her own hands and start offering an assisted-suicide treatment. The service will be offered to those with terminal illnesses where traditional homeopathic treatments have not worked. The number of eligible people is thought to be high. The p…

Do bioethicists actually read the stories they post on blogs?

September 21, 2007bioethics, media issues, Our News & Commentary Blog, vegetative stateStephen Drake

…f the bat was how fast Kelly Hills posted the Reuters story on the Vatican ruling to the AJOB Bioethics Blog and the Women’s Bioethics Blog. The Reuters article has a really glaring inaccuracy, which doesn’t get a comment from the “experts” at these two blogs. Remembering that the Vatican ruling clearly is making statements about the treatment of people in PVS, see if you can spot what’s wrong with the closing of the Reuters article: Bioethicists…