Way To Go
From the Daily Mail, an emollient newspaper for those who like to keep their blood pressure low: The BBC came under fire today for a new sitcom which makes light of assisted suicide. A new series starring Blake Harrison, of the Inbetweeners, tells the story of three young men who build a suicide machine and […]
The price for assisting suicide
A study by the University of Zurich has shown that a quarter of people who accompany someone to commit order cialis from canada assisted suicide suffer serious psychological distress. The results are available in the October issue of the Journal European Psychiatry. More
Hinterlands between the living and the dead
We didn’t cover the Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead celebrations on 1 & 2 November. Perhaps that was an oversight. It’s a colourful and intriguing festival of great interest to Westerners. Those from cultures influenced by Protestantism tend to be a bit tongue-tied in their relationships with their dead. The Dia […]
Seeing it through
In the summer edition of the Oldie magazine (strapline: ‘Everybody buys it eventually’), Mavis Nicholson discusses the case for the ‘right to die’. She says: I had a conversation with an even more elderly chap than me, a GP all his working life, who was in very bad shape. He said he thought it was […]
Publishing event of the year!
The Natural Death Handbook, Fifth Edition A thoroughly updated and revised edition of the Natural Death Centre‘s celebrated handbook. Now presented alongside a new collection of essays on death, dying and funeral practices by doctors, historians, authors, poets, theologians and artists including Richard Barnett, David Jay Brown, Dr Sheila Cassidy, Charles Cowling, Bill Drummond, Stephen Grasso, […]
Who says?
“The current law exists to protect those who are sick, elderly, depressed, or disabled from feeling obliged to end their lives. It requires every case to be reviewed by the police and the DPP to determine whether a prosecution is appropriate. The present law protects those who have no voice against exploitation and coercion, acts […]
Quote of the day
“All doctors have the knowledge and – usually – the means to end their lives … and quite a few use this privilege, even if it doesn’t appear on their death certificates. Doctors are also more likely to have medical friends and relations prepared to assist if necessary. As a doctor, this is a great […]
When suffering becomes pointless
In a very good article which addresses society’s need to address the consequences of technological advances in medicine, Dr Alex Lickerman says this: The notion that dying is a right seems nonsensical to argue: death is given to all of us equally without the need of anyone’s sanction. The right to die well, on the other […]
Please talk about this
This press release was issued this morning by Dignity in Dying following Geraldine McClelland’s death at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland: 08 Dec 2011: My dying wish: please talk about my death In September I decided to travel abroad to die. Having made the necessary arrangements, in October I contacted Dignity in Dying and asked […]
Wants out
Since a stroke six years ago Tony Nicklinson’s life has been, in his own words, ‘dull, miserable, demeaning, undignified and intolerable’. Tony can only move his head and his eyes. He has locked-in syndrome. And now he wants to die. In fact, he’s demanding the same right to end his life that any able-bodied person has. But […]
