END-OF-LIFE CARE

Covid-19 patients need not die alone

Michael Cook | 26 July 2020 | Comments

tags: coronavirus, end-of-life care

‘Dying alone, despite adhering to social distancing, should not be part of dying at all.’

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Who ‘pulls the plug’ for an abused child?

Michael Cook | 10 November 2019 | Comments

tags: brain death, end of life issues, end-of-life care

What if the parents are drug addicts who effectively beat her to death?

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AJOB debates withdrawing and withholding

Michael Cook | 24 March 2019 | Comments

tags: end-of-life care, equivalence theory

Bioethicists clash over whether they are ethically equivalent

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Bedside manner 101: how to deliver very bad news

Michael Cook | 17 March 2019 | Comments

tags: bedside matter, end-of-life care

Probably not with a robot

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Memo to hospitals: prison wardens do not own their prisoners

Michael Cook | 17 March 2019 | Comments

tags: end-of-life care, informed consent, prisoners

An Alabama prisoner died after the warden issued a DNR

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Court rejects Alfie Evans appeal

Xavier Symons | 21 April 2018 | Comments

tags: alfie evans, end of life issues, end-of-life care, law, medical futility, uk

Courts say Alfie Evans should not receive experimental treatment.

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10% of Flemish cancer patients choose euthanasia

Michael Cook | 08 April 2018 | Comments

tags: belgium, end-of-life care, euthanasia, flanders

... and nearly 2% have it chosen for them.

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Kids with Trisomy 13 and 18 can have good quality of life

Michael Cook | 27 August 2016 | Comments

tags: disabilities, end-of-life care, trisomy 13, trisomy 18

JAMA says that the consensus was wrong

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Patients don’t know their life is ending – new study

Xavier Symons | 28 May 2016 | Comments

tags: advance directives, advanced care planning, clinical practice, end-of-life, end-of-life care

A new study by US researchers suggests that advanced cancer patients have a very poor understanding of their own condition.

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10% of elderly Americans abused, says NEJM

Michael Cook | 14 November 2015 | Comments

tags: elder abuse, end-of-life care

Doctors need to be able to recognise the tell-tale signs of elder abuse

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Woman at centre of Indian euthanasia debate dies

Michael Cook | 23 May 2015 | Comments

tags: end-of-life care, euthanasia, India, minimal consciousness

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Humanising end-of-life care

Xavier Symons | 11 October 2014 | Comments

tags: end of life, end-of-life care

A new book published by best-selling author Atul Gawande presents a strident criticism of aged and palliative care in the US.

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Bioethicists debate as curtains close on Casey Kasem

Xavier Symons | 20 June 2014 | Comments

tags: advance directives, artificial nutrition and hydration, end-of-life care

The passing of disc jokey Casey Kasem has generated a remarkable volume of bioethical commentary. Artificial nutrition was withdrawn from an unconscious Kasem in light of an advance directive he had written. The directive was vague, and some of Kasem’s family objected to move.

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Australian man jailed for failing to help dying mother

Xavier Symons | 26 September 2013 | Comments

tags: elder abuse, end-of-life care

A 26-year-old Australian man has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for neglecting his duties towards his dying mother

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Brazilian intensive care specialist investigated over deaths of 300 patients

Michael Cook | 06 April 2013 | Comments

tags: Brazil, end-of-life care, futile care

A Brazilian doctor is being investigated for the murders of more than 300 intensive care patients.

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Liverpool Care Pathway slammed in BMJ

Xavier Symons | 06 April 2013 | Comments

tags: end-of-life care, Liverpool Care Pathway

The highly controversial Liverpool Care Pathway has been slammed in the British Medical Journal. In a scathing letter, psychiatrist Eugene Breen has criticised the protocol as vague and easily abused.

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Hurry up and die, Japan’s finance minister tells elderly

Michael Cook | 27 January 2013 | Comments

tags: end-of-life care, Japan, population

The year is barely a month old, but BioEdge is already sure who will win the annual “Foot in Mouth Award”: Japan’s finance minister Taro Aso.

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Boy born without a brain dies after three years

Michael Cook | 03 November 2012 | Comments

tags: anencephaly, end-of-life care

Some parents care for disabled children. Some let them die.