Longevity does not always work in your favour in the UK
“Dying patients living longer than expected lose NHS funds” was the BBC headline. The NHS is the UK’s government health service, which is publicly funded...
House of Lords votes down another assisted dying proposal
This week the House of Lords in the UK voted down an unusual amendment to a Health and Care Bill and killed the latest initiative...
After five years, is Canada’s ‘medical aid in dying’ legislation working?
Canada legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide in 2016, five years ago. Both supporters and critics of “medical aid in dying”, as the Canadians call it,...
Is anorexia nervosa a good reason for assisted suicide? An eating disorders doctor says Yes
A leading eating disorder specialist has proposed that patients with anorexia nervosa should be allowed access to assisted suicide. Dr Jennifer Gaudiani, a Denver-based physician,...
First figures about New Zealand euthanasia
At least 32 people have taken up New Zealand’s euthanasia services since it became legal on November 7 last year, according to the Ministry of...
In Europe, suicides rise after ‘right-to-die’ is legalised, says bioethicist
Right-to-die campaigners often claim that legalising assisted suicide and euthanasia will result in a fall in the number of suicides. UK bioethicist David Albert Jones...
Italian euthanasia referendum sunk by Constitutional Court
The Italian Constitutional Court blocked a proposal for a national referendum on the right to die this week. The leading lobby group, Associazione Luca...
Towards a new vision for death and dying
Health and social systems around the world are failing to give appropriate, compassionate care to people who are dying and their families. According to a...
Paradoxes of assisted suicide in Germany
The status of assisted suicide in Germany is paradoxical: you have a right to assisted suicide but you do not have a right to acquire...
7 Spaniards who were euthanised last year donated their organs
Well, well, well, that didn’t take long, did it? Spain legalised euthanasia on June 25 last year and already transplant surgeons are using organs from...
Advance care directives often don’t work, says doctors
A few months ago three doctors stated flatly in JAMA that the American system of advance care planning (ACP) is broken. Logic was on its...
Noted US journalist George Will backs ‘assisted dying’
80-year-old George Will has won a succession of awards for his op-ed, beginning with a 1977 Pulitzer Prize. He is generally regarded as one of...