TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT POWER
When do politicians lose the right to medical privacy? For Israelis, this is hardly a theoretical question. When Prime Minister Ariel Sharon collapsed with a stroke in January, the nation was almost paralysed while he lay unconscious. A senior neurologist at Hadassah-University Medical Center in Jerusalem, Professor Avi Reches, contended at a recent seminar that the public’s right to know about a leader’s health is more important than his or her right to privacy. He proposed that a statutory body of physicians should be created to decide if a prime minister is capable of continuing at the tiller.
How doctors dealt with another PM was the centre of different debate. Dr Ofer Grosbard, a clinical psychologist, has just written a book alleging that the late Menachem Begin suffered from manic depression. He criticised Begin’s colleagues for failing to disclose his weakness even though it had impaired his ability to do his job.
- How long can you put off seeing the doctor because of lockdowns? - December 3, 2021
- House of Lords debates assisted suicide—again - October 28, 2021
- Spanish government tries to restrict conscientious objection - October 28, 2021
More Stories
Judicial ping-pong leaves Portugal without a right-to-die law
For the second time Portugal’s Constitutional Court has rejected a right-to-die law because its wording is “intolerably vague”. The bill...
Baby steps for ‘death tourism’ in Oregon
A “death tourism” industry is taking off in Oregon, claims the Daily Mail. It says that Dr Nicholas Gideonse, the...
A divorce for the end-of-life dream team
Compassion & Choices and the Alzheimer’s Association have parted ways after a partnership which lasted only a few weeks. On...
‘Your ChatGPT advance directive is ready for signing …’
I couldn’t help thinking of the trash talk at the weigh-in before a professional heavyweight fight when I read the...
Is America’s healthcare system a kleptocapitalist nightmare?
American health care is perishing under the weight of its greed, according to an editorial in JAMA by Donald M....
He did it. Not clear if he’s sorry
The doctor at the heart of a genetic engineering scandal in China has been released from jail and spoke with...