Tasmania, Australia’s smallest state, like many other jurisdictions, is currently considering legalising voluntary assisted dying (VAD). It is of great concern that legislators are seeking to incorporate this into palliative and medical care. Voluntary assisted dying sounds like a description of what should be occurring in normal medical practice: clinicians recognising those who are dying […]
Residents of Blanchardstown and other parts of north county Dublin say they have endured 24 hours of violence and intimidation following the death of George Nkencho, an African man who was shot by Gardai after he attacked staff at a Eurospar armed with a knife. According to eyewitnesses, Mr Nkencho punched a manager in the store, […]
The facts about the shooting in Hartstown today (Wednesday 30th), as currently known, are straightforward, and distressing. George Nkencho, a man of African origin, in his late 20s, entered a Eurospar shop in Hartstown and threatened staff with a large knife. One staff member is currently in hospital after being seriously injured. The Gardai were […]
A campaign seeking to lift what they say are “callous” restrictions on nursing home visits say that older people are “dying with broken hearts” because of the isolation and loneliness brought about by the Covid lockdown. The campaign group, Care Champions say that they have launched the ‘2*2*2 initiative’ seeking a change to regulations so […]
A British nurse has been charged with eight counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder in relation to baby deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital. Police say children’s nurse Lucy Letby was originally arrested and questioned over the killing of the babies in 2018, but was released. After further investigation she was re-arrested and charged yesterday. […]
Two homeless people were found dead in Dublin over the bank holiday weekend, bringing to “over 50” the number of those found dead while homeless in the first ten months of 2020. Independent Councillor Anthony Flynn told the Irish Times that the number of deaths of homeless people had increased from 37 at this point […]
Oxford University confirmed it would keep testing on foot of an independent review.
Despite extreme social liberalisation across the West in recent years, assisted suicide remains illegal in most of the world, including much of Europe. According to euthanasiadebate.org, assisted suicide and euthanasia are illegal in 92% of voting jurisdictions around the world to date. In fact, Assisted Suicide and euthanasia bills have been defeated around the world […]
Among the roadside billboards canvassing votes for political parties and their candidates in New Zealand’s triennial election on October 17 is one announcing starkly: “LETHAL DOSE with NO assessment for coercion required.” Below that it asks: “Is the End of Life Choice Act safe?” It’s the kind of silly question you have to ask when […]
As in most countries, a large proportion of coronavirus deaths in France are taking place in nursing homes. Of 32,000 deaths in France, about 14,000 were in nursing homes. Confirmed cases and deaths are rising again for the first time in months. French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted this week that “our elders, more fragile, are more […]
In February of this year, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that an individual’s autonomy was far more important than the value of his or her life. It did this when declaring that a law prohibiting assisted suicide was unconstitutional, with the Court’s press release indicating: “The general right of personality guarantees the right […]
Dubbed “deaths of despair”, opioid deaths are a significant reason why the life expectancy of Americans is falling. In 2017, the rate of drug overdose deaths (21.7 per 100,000) had increased to 3.6 times the rate in 1999. The demographic of America’s opioid epidemic is non-Hispanic white Americans, Native Americans and the working class, and […]