Current news


Lords block mercy killings Bill

12 May 2006 - Peers voted by 148 to 100, a majority of 48, to delay Lord Joffe's Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill's second reading for six months. Lord Joffe warned that he would re-introduce the Bill in the next Parliamentary session. Times Online

The "Medical Killing" of Vulnerable Patients Continues in Oregon 09 March 2006 - The Physicians for Compassionate Care Education Foundation (PCCEF) claims that the practice of doctor-assisted suicide in Oregon does nothing to improve health care at end of life. What the law actually does, they state, is protect doctors from peer review and from prosecution for medical killing. The Oregon Assisted Suicide law also, apparently, limits patients' and families' ability to have the proper recourse in the case of malpractice. PCCEF Press Release

Researchers investigate potential use of plant as a pain killer 12 Nov 2005 - Researchers at the National Institutes of Health in the US have enlisted one of the oldest known medicinal plants as a potent painkiller. Resiniferatoxin, the active ingredient in Euphorbia resinfera, a cactus-like plant, elliminates nerve cells involved in chronic pain but does not damage other nerve cells. The initial results are sufficiently promising that the investigators are now planning a clinical study on terminally ill patients with osteosarcoma. BMJ Online

A Chorus of Opposition to Euthanasia in the UK 12 Oct 2005 - Leaders of different faiths have joined the outcry against the euthanasia bill being proposed in the British Parliament. Catholic, Protestants, Jewish and Muslim leaders, representing millions of adherents, addressed all Members of Parliament and of the House of Lords concerning the moral crisis over such legislation. Marlowe's Shade blog

Coma victim says he heard everything 05 Oct 2005 - A 38-year-old Sicilian who spent two years in a coma before waking up has said that he heard and understood everything happening around him during the long ordeal, his family said. Salvatore Crisafulli is recovering at home after years spent in what doctors had termed a "near-dead" state. He is quoted as saying that his "miraculous" recovery proves euthanasia cannot be justified for coma patients.

Father killed son to end boy's 'hell' 27 Sept 2005 - Toronto physical fitness expert David Carmichael thought his 11-year-old son would be "better off in heaven" when he strangled him to end the "hell" of his brain seizures, a court heard on the opening day of his first-degree murder trial. However, Carmichael's wife and other relatives disagreed with Carmichael and described the boy as a happy child. Read the article

Doctors to preserve transplant organs without consent 25 Sept 2005 - UK transplant surgeons are to be given the legal right to keep patients' organs artificially alive after their death without consent. The law change is contained in a clause of the Human Tissue Act, which comes into force in April. Doctors predict it could eventually lead to enough kidneys being available to clear the waiting list of 5,600. Read the article

Doctors killed critically ill in New Orleans 11 Sept 2005 - With gangs of rapists and looters rampaging through wards in the flooded city of New Orleons, senior doctors took the harrowing decision to give massive overdoses of morphine to those they believed could not make it out alive. 06 Sept 2005 - Two new reports from the Netherlands shows a staggering prevalence of physicial assisted "suicide" and euthanasia among children. More than half of all pediatricians in the Netherlands are willing to perform active ending of life if the child explicitly requests this and parents agree. Read the article

Accused murderer's death leaves unanswered questions 30 Aug. 2005 - A nurse who was accused of murdering at least three elderly patients was found dead in her home yesterday and prosecutors say there is little hope now of ever learning how many patients she might have killed. In addition to the three murder charges, she also faced an attempted murder count and 13 other charges related to 12 patients in at least 20 cases prosecutors investigated. The 51-year-old had always proclaimed her innocence. BBC News story
Dutch Euthanasia Study Raises Concerns 15 Aug 2005 - The head of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA) says a recent study on euthanasia in the Netherlands, conducted by researchers at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, fails to give a full picture. Read more here
Dutch Doctors and Assisted Suicide 08 Aug 2005 - A postal survey undertaken in the Netherlands, sent to all general practitioners in 18 of 23 districts, asked the physicians to describe the most recent request they had received for euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, if any. A total of 3,164 physicians responded, for a 60% response rate. The results of the survey indicates that requests for an assisted death appear to meet official requirements most of the time. Read here
Belgian "euthanasia doctor" accused of five murders 03 Aug 2005 - A doctor from the Belgian coastal town of Oostende is accused of murdering five elderly patients in a nursing home in the past three years, local newspaper "Het Nieuwsblad" reported on Wednesday. The paper said the victims -- all of whom were suffering from dementia -- died after being injected with a lethal dose of morphine. Read here
NZMA continues to oppose euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide 01 Aug 2005 - "The NZMA is opposed to both the concept and practice of euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide. Euthanasia, that is the act of deliberately ending the life of a patient, even at the patient's request or at the request of close relatives, is unethical." Read here
Dying man loses legal battle over right to be fed 29 July 2005 - A man who is terminally ill and fears that doctors may allow him to die of thirst said he was "disappointed" yesterday after the Court of Appeal overturned an earlier judgment in his favour. Leslie Burke, 45, suffers from cerebellar ataxia, a progressively degenerative brain condition that follows a similar course to multiple sclerosis, and will need artificial nutrition and hydration - known as ANH - when he loses the ability to swallow. Read story here
Body in car case sparks Australia euthanasia row 27 July 2005 - Maria Korp, 50, who has been in a vegetative state since February, when she was found in the boot of her car after being strangled by her husband's mistress, is to have her feeding tube cut off. Voluntary euthanasia advocates said it was sad Australian laws that outlaw assisted death meant Korp would not be allowed to die quickly, while pro-life activists were angered by the decision to withdraw life support. Read story here
NZMA to reconsider its position on euthanasia 15 July 2005 - NZ Medical Association chairman Ross Boswell said yesterday that changes made by the British organisation meant a review in New Zealand was warranted. Read story
Dont switch off hope - lobby group 14 June 2005 - A patients' support group is disappointed by the comments of an Auckland intensive-care specialist calling for the early withdrawal of medical care for patients with severe brain injury. "Injury cannot often be determined in the initial days following an event. What may initially appear futile may be very different years later." Read story
Ruling on French Polynesia's first euthanasia case 13 June 2005 - A doctor has been acquitted of murdering a terminally ill cancer patient in French Polynesia's first euthanasia case. Doctor Leon Law said he had acted in good conscience, His patient's family disagree. "They treated my brother like a vet with a sick dog," his sister Noelline told the court. Read more here...

Father seeks euthanasia for daughters

11 June 2005 - A man has written to West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee asking for permission for the mercy killing of his two daughters, severely handicapped since birth, as he is unable to meet the medical costs of looking after his daughters. Read more here...
California Assisted Suicide Bill Fails 08 June 2005 - A bill to make California the second state in the nation to legalise assisted suicide failed to get enough support in the state Assembly to be brought up for a vote. Some observers are surprised by the strong bipartisan coalition of legislators who oppose the measure. The bill has also drawn opposition from pro-life and Catholic groups, the state medical association, hospice organisations and disability advocates. Read more here...
Experts Say Schiavo Injuries Classic Signs of Strangulation 02 June 2005 - The stated cause of Terri Schiavo's injuries is said to be an alleged cardiac arrest resulting from a potassium imbalance due to an eating disorder. However, medical and forensic experts have dispelled that with medical evidence and publicly stated that a crime of strangulation, attempted murder, occurred. Read the story in The Empire Journal


Requests for euthanasia guided by psychological distress

20 Sept 2005 - Dutch doctors have found that few patients who ask for euthanasia are making a rational request for a good death. Most, if not all, studies have shown that psychological distress, including depression and hopelessness, is a major factor in euthanasia requests. Journal of Clinical Oncology
France passes "right to die" law
14 April 2005 - The French parliament, on Wednesday, April 13th, adopted a law that would grant terminally ill patients the "right to die" by allowing them to stop medical treatment, but did not legalise euthanasia. Read more at www.news24.com
Woman wakes up in morgue
March 21, 2005
An elderly woman, who was a resident of an extended-care rest home, shared a room with another woman. She was sleeping deeply when the other woman died. When a driver of a funeral home arrived to take the body, instead of picking up the dead woman, he took the still-very-much-alive woman. A porter at the hospital morgue noticed a leg moving on the "body." Read more...
Premature baby 'left to die'
Brussels - 21 Feb. 2005
A baby boy born six weeks prematurely was left to die at the wishes of his parents who feared he would be disabled. He lived about five hours. Two doctors and a maternity nurse face charges. The mother may also face charges. Read more...
Life for Swiss 'Angel of Death'
28 Jan 2005 - A Swiss nurse has been convicted of killing 22 elderly patients and sentenced to life imprisonment. Roger Andermatt, 36, claimed that his motive was compassion but, according to a statement by Lucerne officials, he also cited a desire to ease the work overload. Many of his victims were aged between 66 and 95. Read story here...
Death trumps choice
Jan 06, 2005 - What if you knew that legalizing assisted suicide meant that sick and disabled people, who don't ask to die, nonetheless would be killed? That's the central question that Sacramento lawmakers will have to address as they consider a bill to legalize assisted suicide. People, who mean well, say, "Why not let people choose death to save society a little money?" Already some suffer because some health-care administrator has decided their quality of life is so deficient they might as well die. Read article here...
This doctor is proud to have killed four newborns
26 Dec. 2004 - "There is a small group of children for whom no treatment is possible for the congenital disease and malformations they are born with," said Eduard Verhagen, the head of paediatrics at Groningen Hospital in the Netherlands. "Asking doctors to take away the pain easily and allow the child to die quietly is the natural reaction. For the incurable to die early requires that we do this or they enter a starvation phase and what suffering is more unbearable than a minor left to die from natural causes such as these." Read more here
Beatification Closer for von Galen
20 Dec. 2004 - The Vatican will soon advance the causes of several candidates for beatification and canonization, Cardinal Clemens August von Galen. Known as the "Lion of Münster" (a reference to his native city), he was a bold and outspoken opponent of the Nazi regime, and particularly the extermination of handicapped Germans. Read an excerpt of the sermon by Catholic Cardinal Clemens von Galen, delivered on Sunday, August 3, 1941, in Münster Cathedral, in which he risked his life by openly condemning the Nazi euthanasia program HERE
Dutch ponder 'mercy killing' rules
2 Dec. 2004 - Dutch health officials are considering guidelines doctors could follow for euthanizing terminally ill people "with no free will," including children, the severely mentally retarded and patients in irreversible comas. Read more here
Australians to make suicide pill
10 Nov. 2004 - Australian euthanasia advocate Philip Nitschke has announced plans for a suicide pill which could be manufactured at home from easily available ingredients. A group of 30 people in their 70s will meet at an undisclosed location in rural Australia early next year to manufacture 300 grams of the barbiturate. This will then be divided into 30 10g doses which the individuals will take home with them - perhaps for use at a later date. The participants also plan to publish a handbook to help other groups follow their lead. There is, at this time, no law that prevents the manufacture of barbiturates. Full Story
Fears over 'unregulated euthanasia'
3 August 2004 - Dutch researchers from the Free University Medical Centre in Amsterdam and the Erasmus Medical Centre, claim that dutch doctors are using 'terminal sedation' to end the lives of patients. Although euthanasia is a notifiable procedure, 'terminal sedation' is not and therefore does not come within the safeguard assesment regulations.
The Dutch public prosecution chief Joan de Wijkerslooth stated that "a grey area has developed between euthanasia and terminal sedation" and urged for the "implementation of better regulations."
Full Story
Euthanasia in the Netherlands
5 June 2004 - Dementia has been declared a sufficient reason for euthanasia in Holland. A decision by the Procurators' General Council not to prosecute a doctor who assisted in the suicide of an Alzheimer's patient has now been endorsed by the Justice Minister. Meanwhile, the Dutch Health Minister appears to have some concerns about the accuracy of reporting of euthanasia. The number of cases of euthanasia reported by doctors has fallen for the fourth year in a row. It is not clear whether this is because of improved palliative care or failure to report all cases. [British Medical Journal, 5 June]

Eight Years of Assisted Suicide in Oregon:

09 May 2006 - The International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide has compiled a Report on the discrepancy between the official reporting and what is actually happening in Oregon. Members of a British House of Lords Committee traveled to Oregon seeking information regarding Oregon's assisted-suicide law for use in their deliberations about a similar proposal. The Fact Sheet includes statements from one of the three volumes subsequently published by the House of Lords. Read more...
The 744 page Volume of Evidence is available here in PDF format.

Emotional and Psychological Effects of Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia on Participating Physicians 10 April 2006 - This article, published in Issues in Law & Medicine, Vol 21, pages 187-200, Spring 2006, is a review and evaluation of medical and public literature regarding the reported emotional and psychological effects of physician assisted suicide and euthanasia on the involved physicians. Read more... Open Letter to Michael Schiavo 25 March 2006 - The head of America's largest Catholic pro-life organisation, Fr. Frank Pavone, writes an open letter to Michael Schiavo. He stands by his previous comment that, although legal in the eyes of men, Schiavo's decision to have Terri dehydrated to death was murder in the eyes of God and he calls on Schiavo to embrace a life of repentance. U.S. Newswire Nitschke likely to head to NZ 11 Nov 2005 - When restrictive Australian federal legislation come into force on January 7, 2006, euthanasia advocate Dr Philip Nitschke said Exit Australia will be forced to move its operations to New Zealand. Herald Sun Patient wants to live, but old 'living will' mandates death 20 Oct 2005 - The family of 79-year-old Jimmy Chambers are being torn apart over their mothers determination to adhere to a 10-year-old living will that they say Chambers has revoked since being hospitalised. Some of the children are battling their mother in Court to have her removed as guardian, so their father can be treated as they believe he wishes. Read story The old and the sick shouldn't be given a quick exit button 10 Oct 2005 - In Holland, where voluntary euthanasia was made legal in 2002 (though it had been practised for the previous 30 years), one death in 40 was attributed to a termination. There is evidence, that 1,000 deaths take place in Holland every year as a result of action by doctors for which no specific request has been given. Read more here
Dutch Set to Expand Euthanasia Guidelines
29 Sept 2005 - The Dutch government intends to expand its current euthanasia policy, setting guidelines for when doctors may end the lives of terminally ill newborns with the parents' consent. The new policy will not require a change of law, Dutch Health Ministry spokeswoman Annette Dijkstra said Thursday. Read here
Psychological distress major factor in euthanasia requests
20 Sept 2005 - Dutch doctors have found that few patients who ask for euthanasia are making a rational request for a good death. Most, if not all, studies have shown that psychological distress, including depression and hopelessness, is a major factor in euthanasia requests. Read here
Media not ignorant of the facts
06 Sept 2005 - Steven Drake, research analyst for the disability rights activist groups, Not Dead Yet, blasted the Associated Press for inaccuracies in reporting on euthanasia in the Netherlands. Diversity, Inc. wrote a story on it for their daily newsletter. The reporter contacted the AP in his preparation for the story and couldn't get anyone to comment. "They've been called on this in a very public way and this is not ignorance at work. It's something else entirely," said Drake. Read here
Belgian euthanasia cases 'exceed official reports'
06 Sept 2005 - There are 30 requests for assisted suicide lodged on average with the euthanasia committee every month. However, commission chief Wim Distelmans suspects that many more people are undergoing euthanasia. "If we compare our situation with the situation in the Netherlands, we can assume that the actual number of people undergoing euthanasia is five times as high or about 150," Distelmans said. Read here
Muslims challenge life support ruling
31 Aug. 2005 - The family of an 86-year-old Muslim war hero are appealing a British high court decision to withdraw treatment. His family said the overriding imperative of their faith was to protect life. "Only God had the power to bestow death," they said. Read here
Police Recommend Charges in Quebec Attempted Murder/Euthanasia Case
23 Aug. 2005 - "We don't enter the debate," said Gatineau police Lieutenant Jean-Paul Le May Thursday, according to an Ottawa Sun report. "There is a definition and it meets the definition and we suggest charges. In the Criminal Code, there is nothing suggesting compassionate murder," he added. "Murder is murder." Read here
Woman ends 'right to die' food protest
13 Aug. 2005 - 28-year-old terminally ill Kelly Taylor, who went on hunger strike as an act of voluntary euthanasia, has ended her protest after 19 days because of intense pain. She told the Bristol Evening Post: "It has become too uncomfortable and I would not wish what I have been going through on my worst enemy." Read here
"...a cruel, inhumane and often agonizing death."
Woman Awake and Talking After 20 Years in a Coma
04 Aug 2005 - In a comatose state in September of 1984, Sarah Scantlin shocked her parents and doctors when she began to speak in February 2005. Throughout her 20-year coma, she could see, hear, and understand what was going on around her. Read story here
Euthanasia unregulated in Colombia
31 July 2005 - The Colombian senator whose 1997 court ruling decriminalised assisted suicide throughout the country is calling for a debate over legal regulation of euthanasia. Carlos Gaviria wrote the majority decision in the 1997 case which stated that people can choose to end their lives and that doctors cannot be prosecuted for assisting suicide. However, there is said to be some uncertainty about the legality of assisted suicide and the practice is largely unregulated, meaning that the number of patients dying through assisted suicide is unknown. [Bioedge, 31 July]
UK doctors allowed to withdraw food and water from patients
28 July 2005 - The ruling means that a physician's decision to end a patient's life ? based on his judgement of a patient's quality of life ? supersedes even the wishes of family members such as spouses, children, or even parents ? assuming a person has expressed no end-of-life wishes, or the patient has never had the competence to express their end-of-life wishes. Read more
Dutch doctors adopt guidelines on mercy killing of newborns
15 July 2005 - Dutch paediatricians have voted unanimously to adopt as national guidelines the so called Groningen protocol that covers the mercy killing of newborn babies who are incurably sick and are suffering severely. Read BMJ article
British Medical Association accused of using political chicanery to manipulate the vote
08 July 2005 - Sentiment opposing euthanasia was said to be running at about two to one at the British Medical Association's Conference. An earlier motion, which would have allowed assisted suicide in exceptional circumstances, failed by 58 per cent to 42 per cent. In the end the deciding vote was not taken until the majority of the 449 delegates had departed, leaving only 174 to vote. A decision to take a neutral position succeeded by 92 to 82. Read more here
British Medical Association drops opposition to assisted suicide
06 July 2005 - Despite persistent opposition to any encroachment of euthanasia by some doctors, the BMA took only two days to decide to reverse its 35-year old official opposition to doctors providing the means for patients to kill themselves. A bill is shortly to be introduced in the House of Lords that, while it would not require doctors to administer fatal drugs, would make it legal for them to provide patients with the means to commit suicide. Read more
Lesley Martin's second bid to appeal against her conviction
09 June 2005 - Lesley Martin, having lost her first appeal in February, is once more claiming that her conviction, for the attempted murder of her mother, was a miscarriage of justice. Read NZ Herald story
Suicidal people need help, not DIY advice
02 June 2005 - The Australian Government's legislation to stop the promotion of suicide - or providing information or material on how to commit suicide using the Internet, email or telephones - does not find favour with Dr Philip Nitschke. Nitschke complained to a Senate committee that "rational adult Australians" will not be able to access information to commit suicide. Read the ONLINE opinion article.
Man's right-to life battle challenged by doctors in Court Appeal
30 May 2005 - The Ruling that ensured Leslie Burke the right to receive life sustaining treatment (i.e., food and water) if he loses the ability to communicate his wishes, is being challenged by the UK's General Medical Council. The GMC says that doctors should be the ones to make the decision as to what treatment is in the patient's best interests.
Disability groups worry that doctors are making decisions based on negative, stereotypical assumptions about the quality of life of disabled people, rather than on clinical need. Read LA Times story
UK Dept of Health starved for funding
22 May 2005 - A lawyer acting on behalf of the British Health Secretary, explained the basis of her opposition, to Leslie Burke's right to not be starved and dehydrated to death, by saying that "life-prolonging medical treatment has very serious implications for the functioning of the NHS", and would lead to "inefficient and unfairly skewed use of resources". Read story
Dutch Government Considers Euthanasia Questions
30 March 2005 - The Dutch government must now decide what to do when doctors say it is best to end the lives of infants, the mentally handicapped or the demented. A proposal calls for a panel for patients who cannot express themselves, with the addition of a judge or court official, giving a legal veneer to a practice that technically would remain illegal. Opponents say the move would be a preliminary step to legalizing involuntary euthanasia. Read story...
"Kill the Cripples" Night at the Oscars
The February 2005 'Oscars' saw the euthanasia movie 'Million Dollar Baby' winning the best picture and three other awards. Disability rights activist Diane Coleman, president of Not Dead Yet, said, "This is a clear statement on the Hollywood industry's opinion of people with disabilities." The message from the Motion Picture Academy voters? the best "cripple" is a dead "cripple." Read story here...
Dutch euthanasia law should apply to patients "suffering through living,"
08 Jan 2005 - Doctors can help patients who ask for help to die even though they may not be ill but "suffering through living," concludes a three year inquiry commissioned by the Royal Dutch Medical Association. The report argues that no reason can be given to exclude situations of such suffering from a doctor's area of competence. Source: British Medical Journal
Woman wakes from 20-year coma
09 Feb 2005 - A doctor once described to James Scantlin, Sara's father, what happened to his daughter's brain by saying it's like taking a computer and dropping it off a ten story building and expecting it to work. But Dr. Gorecki says while most people agree computers are complex, they are primitive compared to the human brain. "Computers are designed so that you can't fix them so you have to replace them when they break. The brain doesn't heal very well." In this case it did. Read more here...
Film's euthanasia plot angers disabled groups
23 Jan 2005 - Famed actor and director Clint Eastwood is being condemned by disabled groups who say his award-winning film, "Million Dollar Baby," perpetuates the view that lives of people with disabilities are not worth living. "Warner Brothers never tells you the truth about a key plot twist that turns this pedestrian boxing movie into an insufferable manipulative right-to-die movie," says Michael Medved, noted film critic. Read more...
Dutch baby euthanasia - 22 cases dismissed
22 Jan 2005 - A study published today in the Dutch Journal of Medicine reveals that doctors in the Netherlands have been killing infants born with disabilities at least since 1997, despite euthanasia of children being illegal in that country. Dr. Eduard Verhagen, a pediatrician at Groningen University Medical Center and one of the study's authors, is a well-known advocate of euthanasia. Read more...
The killing of Baby C
20 Nov 2004 - A five month old Nelson girl, diagnosed on the day of her death as having a rare brain disorder - lissencephaly, was found dead in the arms of her distraught father who told police: "I've killed her. I've killed her. She's dead. I'm guilty." He was charged with murder.
Man wins battle to receive life support
BMJ 2004;329:309
London
A terminally ill man who feared doctors might one day stop feeding him has won a landmark judgment ensuring that his wish for life supporting treatment will be respected.

Leslie Burke, aged 44, from Lancaster has degenerative cerebellar ataxia and is likely to lose the ability to communicate. He sought judicial review of the General Medical Council's 2002 guidance on withholding and withdrawing life prolonging treatment, arguing that it breached articles 2 and 3 of the European convention on human rights?the right to life and the right to be spared inhuman and degrading treatment. BMJ Article
Euthanasia Advocates Work To Make Suicide Easy
04 Dec 2004 - The international euthanasia movement's first principle is radical individualism. The idea is that we each own our own body and hence should be able to do what we choose with our physical self - including destroy it. Not only that, but if we want to die, liberty dictates that we should have ready access to a "good death," a demise that is peaceful and pain-free. Read more here
Aborigines 'dying lonely, afraid'
29 July 2004 - A report in the Australian 'Herald Sun'told how indigenous Australians often spend their last days lonely, confused and afraid of euthanasia when they have to go to a have to go to a major metropolitan hospital instead of being able to die at home surrounded by family and friends. Herald Sun
Bulgaria & South Australia Reject Euthanasia
2 June, 2004 - Bulgarian and South Australian parliaments reject euthanasia, assisted suicide 93 out of 107 Bulgarian MP's have voted against the legalization of euthanasia, while the "Dying in Dignity Bill" was defeated in the South Australian parliament by a vote of 13-8. The bill would have legalized physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill or those in "unbearable pain."