Tag: physician-assisted suicide

Should a Mental Health Exam be required before Physician-assisted Suicide?

By Nancy Valko Editor’s note. This post appeared on Nancy’s blog. All boldface emphases are Nancy’s. When I read the October 27, 2018 MedPage news article titled “Assessing Competency in Aid-in-Dying Patients (aka physician-assisted Suicide)-Should a Competency Exam by an Outside Doctor be Required?”, I was struck by one case cited by psychiatrist Richard Martinez, …

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AMA continues to battle over whether to change its position of opposition to PAS to neutrality

By Dave Andrusko Last June, Jennifer Popik, JD provided NRL News Today readers with a full background report on the AMA’s disappointing decision to continue to review, not maintain, its long-standing opposition to physician-assisted suicide (PAS). Popik, NRLC Director of Federal Legislation, explained that the vote, taken at the annual meeting of the American Medical …

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Is it possible for doctors to be neutral on physician-assisted suicide?

A large association of American doctors has adopted a position of “engaged neutrality”. By Michael Cook Earlier this month the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) broke ranks with the American Medical Association (AMA) by adopting a position of “engaged neutrality” on assisted suicide and euthanasia. The AMA, an umbrella group for dozens of American …

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AMA grapples with physician-assisted suicide

By Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director – Euthanasia Prevention Coalition The Worchester Telegram published an excellent op-ed on July 22, written by Dr. Thomas E. Sullivan concerning the American Medical Association (AMA) assisted suicide debate. Dr. Sullivan is the Past President of the Massachusetts Medical Society, the past chair of the New England delegation to the AMA, …

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AMA to vote whether to retain opposition to physician-assisted suicide

By Dave Andrusko Editor’s note. As NRL News Today was about to post all stories for the day, news broke that the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates voted not to affirm the report of its Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA) to maintain opposition to assisted suicide. The vote was 56% to 44% …

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Can There Really Be a “Safer” Physician-assisted Suicide?

By Nancy Valko In August, I wrote a blog “Physician-assisted Suicide and the Palliative Care Physician” about Dr. Jessica Nutik Zitter, a palliative care doctor in California who approved of physician-assisted suicide, would want it for herself but still had some serious qualms about actually writing for the lethal overdose herself. In the end, Dr. …

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Major US doctors group slams physician-assisted suicide

American College of Physicians has dug its heels in By Michael Cook | The American College of Physicians, the second-largest physician group in the United States with 152,000 members, has declared that physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is unethical. The ACP takes a forthright stand in the latest issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. Supporting appendicies covering …

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Could Brittany Maynard Have Been Saved?

By Nancy Valko This week, CBS’ 60 Minutes reported that FDA has just granted “breakthrough status” for an innovative treatment for glioblastoma brain cancer that was first reported by 60 Minutes on March 29, 2015. Brittany Maynard had glioblastoma and died by physician-assisted suicide on November 1, 2014, just 5 months before the original TV …

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What’s behind the demolition of conscience rights in Canada?

Autonomy, choice, and tolerance are being used to justify euthanasia but these grand principles don’t apply to opponents By Margaret Somerville Editor’s note. “The Carter case” refers to the 2015 case of “Carter v. Canada” in which the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the Canadian law protecting against assisting suicide. I’ve been puzzling about …

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Physician Assisted Suicide faces continued pushback in New Hampshire and Vermont

  By Jennifer Popik, JD, Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics Last week, the New Hampshire House of Representatives resoundingly rejected several dangerous bills, including HB1325. By a vote of 219-66 the House voted down HB1325. New Hampshire, along with other New England states, continues to be a high priority target of the death advocates …

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Split Court of Appeals upholds Canada’s ban on physician-assisted suicide

By Dave Andrusko A split British Columbia Court of Appeal today upheld Canada’s ban on physician-assisted suicide. The vote was 2-1. The federal government had appealed what was described as a “landmark” ruling , a reference to “Carter v. Canada,” a 2012 decision in which Justice Lynn Smith declared that Canada’s prohibition against assisted suicide …

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2/3rds oppose physician-assisted suicide in poll conducted by New England Journal of Medicine surveying its own members

By Dave Andrusko The headline on the story is encouraging enough—“Most Doctors Oppose Physician-Assisted Suicide, Poll Finds”—but that’s only the beginning. Here’s the opening paragraph of Steve Reinberg’s story for HealthDay. He is writing about a poll conducted by the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) of the journal’s readers, mostly health-care providers. “Whether doctors …

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