There’s a long article in Sunday’s New York Times on palliative sedation. I’ve also listed some older stories on the subject and an educational site.
Aging, end-of-life, and death
Source: The Why Files
Hard Choice for a Comfortable Death: Sedation, (The New York Times)
“Among those [end-of-life] choices is terminal sedation, a treatment that is already widely used, even as it vexes families and a profession whose paramount rule is to do no harm. Doctors who perform it say it is based on carefully thought-out ethical principles in which the goal is never to end someone’s life, but only to make the patient more comfortable.”
Deep and continuous palliative sedation (terminal sedation): clinical-ethical and philosophical aspects, (The Lancet) (subscription required)
“In addition to the clinical-ethical issues, terminal sedation touches upon interesting and complex questions of an essentially philosophical nature. What it means to be a ‘person’ is one such question, and is a topic that is relevant to clinical, daily practice. … A doctor’s belief of what it means to be a “person” might well affect their actions. For example, if a doctor believes terminal sedation involves the destruction of the person, they might not be willing to proceed with it.”
End-of-Life Practices in the Netherlands under the Euthanasia Act, (The New England Journal of Medicine)
“The enactment of the Dutch euthanasia law was followed by a moderate decrease in the rates of physician assistance in dying. This trend may have resulted from changes in epidemiologic patterns, an increased use of deep sedation and other means of alleviating symptoms near the end of life, and a decreased inclination among physicians to believe that opioids hasten death.”
Asking to die in their sleep: Dutch patients opt for palliative sedation more often, (Radio Nederland Wereldomroep)
“More people are asking to die in their sleep. And they are being given the right medication to do so more often. Still doctors in the Netherlands do not consult enough, say colleagues from the US.”
Palliative Sedation Case Study, (End of Life Curriculum Project, Stanford University Medical School)
“Mr. Russell Halbert was a 58-year-old male with a one hundred pack year history of smoking, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). About two years ago patient noted a silvery patch on his tongue but did not immediately seek medical attention. He continued to smoke and use chewing tobacco.”
Foodborne illness
Source: Food Poison Journal
The Problem with Tenderized Beef, (Food Poison Journal)
“Injury issues aside … the problem with tenderized beef is that it internalizes bacteria from the surface of intact cuts of beef, thereby reducing the likelihood that cooking will serve as an effective kill step. The recent (ongoing???) outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 linked to National Steak and Poultry products occurred because the cuts of beef were mechanically tenderized.”
Health care/Politics
After health care, we need Senate reform, (The Washington Post – Ezra Klein)
“To understand why the modern legislative process is so bad, why every Senator seems able to demand a king’s ransom in return for his or her vote and no bill ever seems to be truly bipartisan, you need to understand one basic fact: The government can function if the minority party has either the incentive to make the majority fail or the power to make the majority fail. It cannot function if it has both.”
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