COVID-19 Reveals A Deadly Failure of Priorities

March 17, 2020bioethics, COVID-19, healthcare rationing, life-sustaining treatment, lifeboat ethics, medical decisionmaking, Our News & Commentary Blog, ventilatorsCOVID-19, healthcare rationing, ventilatorsDiane Coleman

…ways struggled to do the right thing. COVID-19 is leading to more and more news reports on the fast approaching reality that the demand for hospital beds and ventilators will exceed supply. New York’s Governor Cuomo was carried on MSNBC yesterday and today, discussing this crisis. A few years ago, NDY’s research analyst, Stephen Drake (aka my husband, now retired), reviewed New York’s Ventilator Allocation Guidelines, released in 2015. The pandemi…

NY Lawsuit Claims Organ Donor Network Engaged in ‘Shameful Practices,’ Pressuring Staff and Families

October 19, 2012brain death, brain injury, litigation, New York Organ Donor Network, organ donation, organ transplants, Our News & Commentary Blog, rush to judgmentStephen Drake

…ctims recover,” McMahon told The Post. This could just be a case of a ‘disgruntled’ ex-employee leveling charges against the Organ Donor Network as a way to get even – certainly the charges might seem pretty incredible to most of the public who probably have a hard time believing that scenes such as the ones McMahon alleges could occur in major hospitals in this country. However, to people who are more familiar with some of the controversies surro…

Anita Cameron Awarded for Service to the Self-Advocacy Movement

November 22, 2017Anita Cameron, Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, Our News & Commentary BlogAnita Cameron, Autistic Self Advocacy NetworkDiane Coleman

A week ago today in Washington, D.C., the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) presented Anita Cameron, NDY’s Director of Minority Outreach, with its 2017 award for Service to the Self-Advocacy Movement. Anita was introduced by Samantha Crane, ASAN’s Legal Director and Director of Public Policy, and the incoming Board Chair of NDY. ASAN’s write up about Anita in the award announcement said: Anita Cameron has been involved with community organizi…

Brazilian Authorities Arrest Doctor and Seven Other Health Care Professionals on Charges of Killing Patients

March 29, 2013Brazil, crime and punishment, medical killings, murder, Our News & Commentary Blog, serial killersStephen Drake

…ntence above, stressing that patients “were awake and conscious” when the drugs were allegedly administered: “the patients were awake and conscious moments before the drugs were administered.” So, it would have been ok to kill them if they were unconscious…? That’s a good question, as is the one she asks about the last line of the article, which says “Euthanasia is considered a crime in Brazil.” I don’t think I could improve on Meghan’s response t…

Update on Woodstock Nursing Home Deaths – IL DPH Issues Report

September 30, 2008blog recommendations, crime and punishment, homicide, media coverage, nursing homes, Our News & Commentary Blog, serial killersStephen Drake

…that we’re in NY, we’re a little out of the loop when it comes to Illinois news. Thanks to Dick Sobsey at the ICAD blog, we now have more information – from a report issued by the IL Department of Public Health. Here is one item lifted from the Chicago Tribune article on the report that is used as the basis for Dick Sobsey’s comments on the case: The Department of Public Health report also refers to a 56-year-old man with Down syndrome who died in…