Ohio executes prisoner with euthanasia drug
Ohio executed a prisoner this week with a controversial drug normally used for euthanasing animals, pentobarbital. Ohio executed a prisoner this week with a controversial...
Helium suicides rising after promotion on internet
Helium inhalation promoted by internet suicide and euthanasia sites is becoming a significant factor in Australian suicides. Helium inhalation promoted by internet suicide and euthanasia...
India’s Supreme Court allows “passive euthanasia”
Aruna Shanbaug, the brain-damaged woman who has lived in a Mumbai hospital for 38 years, should continue to live, the Supreme Court of India has...
The tragedy of Rachel Nyirahabiyambere
Hi there, It’s always best to wait for both sides of a story to emerge. But a New York Times report makes Georgetown University Medical...
Brain-damaged immigrant’s feeding tube removed
A court-appointed guardian has removed feeding tubes from a 58-year-old comatose grandmother in a Maryland nursing home who has no health insurance and whose children...
Louisiana prisoner castrated
Mutilation is a punishment which most Americans associate with Saudi Arabia, where thieves can have their hands lopped off. But this week a 78-year-old Louisiana...
Presidential commission to examine clinical trial ethics
President Obama’s bioethics commission has formed an international research panel to examine protections for human subjects in clinical trials. President Obama’s bioethics commission has formed...
Obama replaces controversial “conscience” regulation for healthcare workers
The Obama administration a fortnight ago rescinded most of a federal regulation designed to protect healthcare workers who refuse to provide care on moral or...
Child brain scans to identify future criminals
The seeds of criminal and antisocial behaviour can be detected in children as young as three by using tests and brain imaging, a leading criminologist...
The puzzle of locked-in happiness
Hi there, Heading up our list this weekend is a remarkable story about locked-in syndrome (LIS). Personally, I cannot think of anything worse. Even quadriplegic...
Most locked-in patients are happy, study finds
What medical condition would definitely make life not worth living? At the top of most people’s lists would be locked-in syndrome: complete paralysis and inability...
Top UK public servant questions ban on assisted suicide
Is this a straw in the wind for the assisted suicide and euthanasia debate in the UK? A leading public servant, the head of the...