Category: Overseas

THIS fall Google announced that it would venture into territory far removed from Internet search. Through a new company, Calico, it will be “tackling” the “challenge” of aging. Read article

Dilbert author, Scott Adams, wants assisted dying. He feels his father is being tortured without it. Read his blog entry here» …

I am a retired kidney specialist. I have witnessed the deaths of hundreds of patients throughout my career. Fortunately, the vast majority of these deaths were peaceful, painless and occurred a few days after dialysis therapy was discontinued. Alas, this is very different than in many other areas of medicine,…

AT the beginning of 2012, my mother was 95 years old. She lived in an assisted-living center, with hospice care, in a hospital bed 24/7. She was hollow-eyed and emaciated. Though she had moments of clarity, she was confused, anxious and uncomfortable. Her quality of life was minimal, at best.…

Our next two guests support changing the law to permit “assisted death” under some circumstances. Francoise Hebert is the former CEO of Alzheimers Toronto and is a Board member of Dying With Dignity. Steven Fletcher is a Memeber of Parliament who joins us today from Ottawa.

WASHINGTON (RNS) Death may be inevitable, but one in three Americans – including most blacks and Hispanics – want doctors to never quit fighting it. And that number has nearly doubled in 23 years, a new survey finds.Read article » …

We cannot talk about dying with dignity if governments place limits on our autonomy precisely at the moment we are no longer able to stand up and defend it. Read article

BRAVE. You hear that word a lot when people are sick. It’s all about the fight, the survival instinct, the courage. But when Dr. Elizabeth D. McKinley’s family and friends talk about bravery, it is not so much about the way Dr. McKinley, a 53-year-old internist from Cleveland, battled breast…

Loving Andrew Squires recalled the agony of taking his mother to die at the Dignitas clinic after her life became unbearable – mirroring an emotional Coronation Street plot. Read article » …

An ICU physician on taking time to discuss with patients how they see their final days Nearly 15 years ago, the management of a large company had a novel idea about how to encourage its employees to enroll in 401K savings plans. It wasn’t by creating more attractive savings schemes,…

Are we allowed to drink these?” asks Terry Pratchett, pointing at the large green drink with chillies and stalks of mint sticking out of the top which is sitting on the table in front of him. It is 11.30 in the morning, and I am drinking a chilli mojito with…