http://www.bioethics.net/rss/endoflife.xml bioethics news everyday from bioethics.net/American Journal of Bioethics Copyright 2005 bioethics.net Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:57:05 EDT http://www.bioethics.net/ http://www.bioethics.net/images/logo_frontpage_wht.gif 60 200 webmaster@bioethics.net newsupdate@bioethics.net en-us http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7379 For millennia, euthanasia has been considered morally and legally unjustifiable. People who oppose euthanasia still believe it's inherently wrong – it can't be morally justified and even compassionate motives don't make it ethically acceptable. But what are the attitudes of pro-euthanasia advocates regarding whether its use needs to be justified, were it to be legalized? And, if justifications are required, what are they? Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:57:04 EDT http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7372 An elderly woman taken last year to St. John Medical Center had suffered a massive stroke and could no longer speak, eat or drink. Although she had an advance directive specifying no artificial hydration or nutrition if she weren't going to recover, local health officials said, her nephew insisted the local bishop's directive on use of feeding tubes required the Catholic hospital to install one. Mon, 15 Mar 2010 01:19:47 EDT http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7370 A brain-injured Alberta baby at the centre of a controversial end-of-life decision that landed in court has died. Baby Isaiah May was pronounced dead at 12:11 p.m. Thursday. He died in the arms of his parents Rebecka and Isaac May, and surrounded by his aunts, uncles and grandparents Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:46:05 EST http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7364 Doug State entered hospice care two years ago knowing exactly how he wanted to die: at home in Cambridge, Minn., with his wife, Carol, and his dog, Teddy. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:29:57 EST http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7357 Today is the first anniversary of the law in which Washington legalized the practice through a public referendum, Initiative 1000. Dominican Sister Sharon Park, executive director of the Washington State Catholic Conference, states that the law places vulnerable people at risk of abuse. The legislation, she said, was written to prevent adequate safeguards for persons most in need of care and support.ť Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7355 Two Connecticut physicians, Gary Blick and Ronald M. Levine, sued the state last year hoping to ensure that doctors who prescribe medication to enable a patient to end his own life will not be charged with second-degree manslaughter under the law. The heart of the case is how suicide will be defined under Connecticut law. Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7352 A large percentage of hospices do not account for patients with defibrillator implants, which can lead to unnecessary - and uncomfortable - shocks to patients, new research shows. Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:53:33 EST http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7351 The bills totaled $618,616, almost two thirds of it for the final 24 months, much of it for treatments that no one can say for sure helped extend his life. In just the last four days of trying to keep him alive -- two in intensive care, two in a cancer ward -- our insurance was charged $43,711 for doctors, medicines, monitors, X-rays and scans. Two years later, the only thing I know for certain that money bought was confirmation that he was dying. Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:52:00 EST http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7347 New evidence of brain activity in patients judged to be in a persistent vegetative state should make physicians and neurologists more cautious in arriving at such judgments in the future, according to a Catholic ethicist. Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:25:19 EST http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7337 Living wills and advance directives were the hope for end-of-life decision-making decades ago. Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:57:31 EST http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7333 A baby girl died following an alleged fight between doctors in a Brazilian hospital delivery room, reports say, prompting an investigation. Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:44:28 EST http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7332 A baby girl died following an alleged fight between doctors in a Brazilian hospital delivery room, reports say, prompting an investigation. Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:44:28 EST http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7326 ggressive treatment at the end of life — frantic CPR for a brain-dead accident victim, inserting a feeding tube in a dying Alzheimer’s patient — has become a staple of the health care debate. Critics argue that vast resources are squandered on care that is obviously futile. Tue, 23 Feb 2010 10:43:25 EST http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7322 It was heralded as a medical miracle. After spending more than two decades in a vegetative state, Rom Houben, a Belgian man in his mid-40s, was suddenly able to communicate, news reports trumpeted last November. Sun, 21 Feb 2010 03:10:41 EST http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7306 Even though she lived for less than two hours, Baby Miracle Gianna lived long enough to shine a stark light on practices inside a local Catholic hospital that have pro-life citizens up in arms. Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:12:13 EST