Physician Assisted Suicide - Palliative Care
Michael McCabe
Issue 1, August 2000
The recent visit to New Zealand of euthanasia advocate, Dr Philip Nitschke, the submission for ballot of a Death with Dignity Bill by MP Peter Brown, and the announcement of a further $3.5m [in addition to the $13.5m currently spent] for palliative care, by Health Minister Annette King, highlights an on-going debate in New Zealand about the care of the dying.
A National Strategy for Palliative Care
Rod MacLeod
Issue 2, November 2000
Palliative care is the active total care of people by a multi-professional team when a person's disease is not responsive to curative treatment. It
- affirms life and regards dying as a normal process
- aims neither to hasten nor postpone death
- aims to provide relief from distressing symptoms
- integrates physical, emotional, spiritual and social aspects of care
- offers help to the family during the person's illness and bereavement
Editorial: Compassion - Beyond Constraint
Michael McCabe
Issue 4, August 2001
One of the themes frequently heard from hospice team members and from those who work in aged-care facilities concerns the constraints placed upon their work of compassion.
Necessaries of Life
Dr David Collins, QC
Issue 4, August 2001
The duty to provide "necessaries of life" plays an important role in regulating professional behaviour in a medical setting. The phrase "necessaries of life" has been especially significant in several ethically complex and high profile cases before the New Zealand Courts. We have asked Dr David Collins, QC, a member of the Panel of Advisors for The Nathaniel Centre to explain its importance and legal significance.
Cultural Issues in End of Life Care
Dr Rod MacLeod
Issue 4, August 2001
In many societies people define themselves by their religious and cultural grouping, even when their faith or immersion in religion or culture is limited. There are wide variations between people of differing faiths, ethnic backgrounds and national origins and their approach to the end of life. New Zealanders are no exception. This country is inhabited and created by people from a broad range of ethnic and cultural origins. Although four fifths of the population is comprised of people from European descent this does not mean that generalizations can be made in their approaches to the end of life.
Editorial: Opportunities at the End of Life
Michael McCabe
Issue 8, November 2002
"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a person but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."
--Victor Frankl (1959)
In New Zealand there has been considerable discussion recently about euthanasia, or more correctly, assisted suicide. Proponents of assisted suicide argue that it is the ultimate choice and promote it as helping the individual achieve "death with dignity". The debate has focussed around two recent events both highlighted in the media – the advent of the so-called "exit bag" and publication of a book by Lesley Martin entitled, "To Die Like a Dog."
Living Wills
Nadja Tollemache OBE
Issue 8, November 2002
Over the last few decades there has been increasing emphasis on self-determination (also labelled individual autonomy) in regard to a person's right to choose their medical treatment.
However, some difficult problems arise in cases where rational, legally competent individuals want to make provision for what is to happen in case they should ever become incapable at a later date through unconsciousness, coma, or mental incapacity. The question is whether such a provision made now is binding at a later date on health professionals, caregivers or members of the family. Such a declaration of wishes for the future is known as an "advance directive" and may be either in the form of a "Living Will" or in the form of an enduring power of attorney for personal care.
Ethical Decision-Making and Grief
Michael McCabe
Issue 8, November 2002
The word grief comes from a Latin word 'gravare' which means deep sorrow. Grief is a deep sense of loss, which is part of the human condition. For both the healthcare professional and the ordinary person, ethical decisions often need to be made in a grief-filled context.
Subcategories
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Euthanasia
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