Daily Archives: April 15, 2021

According to provisional 2020 year-end statistics,Alzheimers diseaseremained among the leading causes of death, increasing last year by almost 10%. Indeed, deaths from all types of dementia increased last year, accounting for many nursing home deaths and reflecting a lack of family visitation and stimulation.Canada was especially hard hit. Areportby the Canadian Institute for Health Information found that as of May 25, 2020, 80% of COVID-19 related deaths were people in long-term care facilities and retirement homes, many of which instituted lockdowns and restricted or eliminated visits from family members.

Researchers found that the rates of loneliness and hopelessness in the aged increased during these lockdowns, causing confinement syndrome, which resulted in more older people inquiring about Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). [1] While not a direct cause of increased euthanasia or assisted suicide, the lockdowns were considered an accelerant.

Nancy Holland

On October 20, 2020, with the prospect of another lockdown squarely in front of her, Canadian nursing home resident Nancy Hollandhad herself euthanized. Mrs. Holland, aged 90, was doing well for her age, but according to her daughter, over the lockdown period her mental health and happiness severely declined. There was nothing preciselymedically wrongwith Nancy, who would regularly walk to the library, do her own shopping, and was a spry and social woman for whom social contact was like oxygen.

But as weeks of intermittent in-room isolation imposed by her nursing home dragged on to months, she declined physically and mentally.Faced with a second round of lockdowns and isolation, Nancy made the decision to seek a medically assisted death.

Many who met the criteria and [would have] wanted MAiD are choosing to die sooner than they would otherwise because the retirement lockdowns, particularly visitor restrictions, are so miserable.

Dr. Susan Woolhouse, Canadian Association of Maid Assessors and Providers.

Originally, Canadian euthanasialegislationwas limited to the terminally ill.At the time of Mrs. Hollands death, according toHealth Canada, MAiDwas available if a physician had determined that an individual was:

in an advanced stage of irreversible decline, experiencing unbearable physical or mental suffering that cannot be relieved andwhere ones natural death has become reasonably foreseeable.

Nancys first request to her doctor was refused. But with the prospect of stricter isolation and Canadas long winter, she deteriorated and developed concrete medical issues and once again considered MAiD. She made a second request, and this one was granted.Surrounded by family, she died on October 20.

When you cant look forward to getting out of your room, to having meals or doing activities with others, to even seeing your own families and loved ones, you can imagine for a person in the last few years of their life where these are the basic things that actually bring them joy and really defined what they would call their own quality of life, when you actually deprive a human being of these things, you can imagine that that can have significant psychological consequences that can really give people no real will to live anymore.

Dr Samir Sinha, geriatric specialist at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Other countries recognized that the decline in long-term care residents was due to enforced isolation. The Netherlands, with one of the most permissive euthanasia laws in the world, found a balance between precautions and allowing activities and family visits. Aftera pilot project, the Netherlands officially permitted nursing homes to adopt a program allowing one visitor per resident.

But even as its older population died from COVID-19, Canada contemplated relaxing its MAiD regulations. Critics said that the proposed changes would make Canadas law among the most permissive in the world. Bill C-7 was meant to give access to MAiD to people whose naturaldeath is not reasonably foreseeable.Opponents toBill C-7contended that it endorses a prejudice that life with a disability has less dignity or is less worth living; transforming MAiD from a procedure to facilitate dying into a terminal therapy for lifes suffering.

Three weeks ago, on March 17, 2021, after a year of debate, Bill C-7became law.Under the new law, a persons natural death no longer needs to be reasonably foreseeable -- and both active euthanasia and medically assisted suicideare allowed. The necessary conditions are that the candidate is:

The Global Push

Four days later,Spainlegalized euthanasia, becoming the fifth country to do so. Here, too, terminal illness is not a required prerequisite, althoughsuffering from a serious or incurable disease or a serious, chronic and incapacitating condition, which causes intolerable suffering, is required.

"Today we are a more humane, just and freer country. The euthanasia law, widely demanded by society, finally becomes a reality."

Spain'sPrime Minister Pedro Sanchez

Portugal,too,is on the cusp of broadening its laws. (Itslegislatureenacted it, but their high court struck it down as imprecise.It is expected to bere-introduced.)

Yet even the most permissive MAiD regimes globally including Belgium (where euthanasia accounts for 2.4% of all deaths), the Netherlands, and Luxembourg treat MAiD as a last resort, available when no other options remain. But those who do not have a medical condition and are just tired of life and therefore dont qualify for MAiD can still be helped. This comes by way of various Swiss groups, for example,Pegasos,and a perverse form of medical tourism. Dutch citizens seeking to end their life, but without a medical reason, can travel to Switzerland, where aPegasosprovides the assist for assisted suicide.

Pegasos offers an assisted dying service to approved adults of sound mind, regardless of their country of origin/ residence. Pegasoswebsite

And while, under Belgian law, euthanasia for tiredness of life is not permitted, doctors can circumvent the law by diagnosing polypathology a jumble of ailments which nearly every elderly person has, and amalgamated, are asufficient cause for euthanasia.

Not everyone, however, is supportive.Germany and Australia have put billson hold or failed to pass them.The authors of a recentarticleintheJournal of Medicine and Philosophyarticle argued that Belgian euthanasialaw is broken ethically, administratively and legally.A few months ago,UN human rightsexperts expressed alarm at a growing trend to enact legislation enabling access to medically assisted dying based largely on a disability or disabling conditions supported by an aggressive and well-organized disability rights community. These experts claim that legislation allowing euthanasia for the non-terminally ill relies on quality of life, arguments often made by the disabled. The aged, who may feel subtly pressured to end their lives prematurely due to attitudinal barriers and the lack of appropriate services and support, are similarly vulnerable, although without powerful NGO advocacy on their behalf. And that brings us back to Nancy Holland.

Two months after Mrs. Holland took her life, vaccination changed the COVID-19 picture entirely. How many elderly who chose to die because they couldnt face another lockdown would have chosen to live if they could have seen around the corner to vaccinations release from the bondage of isolation? We can only wonder.

[1]Suicide is the act of killing oneself.Assisted suicide, also calledmedical aid in dying(MAiD) orphysician-assisted suicide (PAS), is committed with theassistanceof another person, often a health professional, but the actual act is performed by the patient who self-administerdrugs, usually, but not always,barbiturates. Ineuthanasia(also called "mercy killing"),another party brings about the person's death. The terms are often usedinterchangeably.

Read more here:

Euthanasia in the Days of COVID-19 | American Council on Science and Health - American Council on Science and Health

Carol Onley, 66, is dying.

She's leaving behind unfinished paintings in her "she-shed", a loving extended family, and a supportive partner.

"More than 10 years ago now, I had my first diagnosis of lung cancer which was amazingly shocking," she said.

After a successful surgery and course of immunotherapy, Carol got back to living.

"But in 2019 I had some symptoms which seemed quite unusual, so I went and had a CT scan, and yes, those little nodules had now absolutely exploded."

After a lifetime as a mental health nurse and a smoker, Carol knew what was ahead of her.

"Through my nursing career I was quite aware of voluntary assisted dying (VAD), that it had become available to people in my position," she said.

"[At the] beginning of this year, I've embarked on that program."

ABC Gippsland: Rio Davis

Under Victoria's VAD program, two doctors need to independently verifythe patient is of sound mind and has less than six months to live for a physical illness and 12 months for a neurological condition.

But living in regional Victoria has made the process more difficult.

"I was actually shocked to find in Gippsland there were only two doctors available who could make that assessment," Carol said.

There are just 76 doctors in regional Victoria trained to help terminally ill people access the VAD program.

"I have family, I have good supports who've helped me all through this and they can take me to wherever I've needed to go," Carol said.

"I've just wondered about people who live further afield from Orbost or Bairnsdale, if you don't have quite so much good access to supports, how do they access the program?

"There just seemto be some barriers that are a little too difficult for people to overcome."

Victoria's VADprogram, which came into force in 2019, was the first state-based program in Australia.

In a statement, a Victoriangovernment spokesperson said the legislation was leading Australia.

"Our voluntary assisted dying laws are giving Victorians with an incurable illness at the end of their lives a compassionate choice," they said.

"This service has been expanded through regional Victoria and we continue to encourage more medical practitioners to become involved to allow greater access across the state."

But the board charged with reviewing the program found there were "limited numbers" of GPs trained to consult on euthanasia in far east and west Victoria.

Supplied: Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board

A former Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Betty King, is the chair of that board.

Supplied: Betty King

"[We've recommended the government] encourage more specialists to do the training and sign up for the program,it's a busy practice andthere is so much for most specialists in regional Victoria to do, without this additional time," Justice King said.

"It does take time.This is not an easy and quick process.

"It's certainly been one that's designed to be safe, and when you have a lot of safeguards built in it does take time, so it's very difficult for them to take that time out of their practice."

Victoria's Voluntary Assisted Dying board is set to table its final report onthe program in Parliament in August.

But as other states bring in VAD programs of their own, there isanother problem facing regional Australians trying to access euthanasia.

"So much now in medicine, particularly regionally, depends upon telehealth; unfortunately telehealth is not permitted for VAD, because federally some legislation was introduced to prevent [euthanasia advocate] Dr [Philip] Nitschke from sharing methods of suicide online," Justice King said.

Breaking these laws could incur fines of up to $222,000 for individuals or $1,110,000 for businesses.

"It potentially prevents our doctors in Victoria from being able to use telehealth to discuss things and talk to patients and that really is a major inhibitor," Justice King said.

"We have called on the Commonwealth to just exempt voluntary assisted dying from it, because we are a government, organised, legal process, but so far they have not been willing to do so."

In a statement, the federal government said people should have access to quality palliative care.

"The government has no plans to amend the suicide-related material offences in the Criminal Code."

ABC News: Jacqueline Breen

DrNitschke, once investigated for testing the purity of a drug usedin a terminally ill man's suicide, said the introduction of the amendment in 2005 was targeted.

"It's often a piece of legislation that I think people aren't aware of, and it was an insidious introduction that came in under the Howard government with Philip Ruddock as Attorney General, that I think the public were never really aware they were having a pretty basic and fundamental freedom eroded," he said.

As more states begin their VAD programs, Dr Nitschke said the federal government neededto change the code to ease the burden on regional Australians.

"It's certainly something that needs addressing if we're to see uniform legislation and equal access to what's available in these new end of life pieces of legislation sweeping across Australia," he said.

In geographically vast Western Australia, the tyranny of distance will rule regional access when its voluntary assisted dying program begins in June.

Western Australia's Australian Medical Association president,Andrew Miller, said more resources would be needed to compensate for the ban on telehealth.

"It's the same situation that there is in Victoria, things have to be put in place to enable face-to-face consultation, they're going to have to put some resources into that," Dr Miller said.

The Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory and Norfolk Island have not been able to make laws on euthanasia since the federal government quashed the NT's program in 1997.

Two weeks ago, the ACT's health minister and oppositionleader passed amotion of "profound disappointment" that the federal government was continuing to block euthanasialaw.

A statement made by the federal government in response said:

"The government currently has no plans to repeal the Euthanasia Laws Act 1997."

ACT Health Minister Tara Cheyne said the federal government's ban on territories making euthanasia laws was a human rights issue.

"There is a separate issue here from voluntary assisted dying it is about democratic rights and we'd like to see the call coming from right across federal parliament," she said.

Supplied: Carol Onley

Carol does not know when she is going to take the drugs that will end her life.

It is a delicate balance.

"You've gotta be with it enough to do it, so I can't let the situation roll on too far, I've got to have enough dexterity to take the medication," Carol said.

"It's very confronting.

"I've been with family members who've passed away my sister had Motor NeuroneDisease, she had to go right to the end of that disease because there were no other options for her."

After a life of adventure, service and love, Carol admits she's a little bit of a "control freak".

"I am so grateful to have the opportunity to die with dignity," she said.

Link:

Telehealth ban for voluntary assisted dying makes life, and death, difficult for the terminally ill in the country - ABC News

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Seattle, April 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In honor of Heartworm Awareness Month, Greater Good Charities, in cooperation with Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, the maker of HEARTGARD Plus (ivermectin/pyrantel), and The Animal Rescue Site announced today the launch of the Good Flights program. The goal is to transport 2,000 shelter dogs from Louisiana, where they are at risk of euthanasia, to new homes on the East Coast. That number includes 1,000 asymptomatic heartworm-positive dogs. The program is part of the Greater Good Charities Save a Heart initiative, which aims to reduce shelter euthanasia in overcrowded shelters by preventing and treating heartworm disease in shelter dogs, while transporting adoptable asymptomatic heartworm-positive dogs to safety.

According to the American Heartworm Society, Louisiana is one of the leading states in heartworm infection rates in the United States.1 That puts heartworm-positive shelter dogs in Louisiana at a higher risk of euthanasia due to the length of care, space required and cost of treatment.

Canine heartworm disease is a dangerous and life-threating illness for infected animals, andSave a Heart, a life-saving initiative of our newly launched Good Flights program, will be a historic game changer for these at-risk shelter dogs who are battling this disease, said Liz Baker, CEO of Greater Good Charities. We are extremely grateful to Boehringer Ingelheim, the maker of HEARTGARD Plus (ivermectin/pyrantel), for making it possible for us to bypass the prohibitive cost of treatment by graciously covering medical costs and providing the necessary product for these dogs in need, and to The Animal Rescue Site for helping fund the transport and providing sheltering and foster supplies.A special thank you to the Banfield Foundation for helping to cover the costs of veterinary care forparticipating shelter pets of Save a Heart.

The inaugural Save a Heart mission will take place April 19-20, 2021 via three planes carrying approximately 120 at-risk shelter dogs, with 50% of the dogs being asymptomatic heartworm positive, from Louisiana (Lafayette and New Orleans) to Morristown, N.J. and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Additionally, in late April, a ground transport carrying 35 at-risk shelter dogs, with 50% of the dogs being asymptomatic heartworm positive, will depart Southeast Louisiana to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Participating shelter partners in Louisiana will include Acadiana Animal Aid, St. Charles Parish Animal Shelter, Lafourche Parish Animal Shelter, St. Martin Parish Animal Services, Caras House, Washington Parish Animal Shelter, and Lafayette Animal Shelter and Care Center. The receiving shelter partners include St. Huberts Animal Welfare Center in New Jersey and the Humane Society of Broward County in Florida.

This initiative will allow 1,000 asymptomatic heartworm-positive shelter dogs that are transported via Save a Heart to receive initial medication, in accordance with the American Heartworm Society's recommendations, prior to transport. The Greater Good Charities Good Flights team will work in concert with veterinary teams to select candidates that are positive for heartworm disease and are not showing clinical signs of the disease which qualifies them for transport. Upon arrival at their destination shelter, the heartworm-positive shelter dogs will ideally be placed into foster or adoptive homes to complete heartworm treatment and be monitored until they test negative.

With current euthanasia rates of heartworm-positive dogs in partner Louisiana shelters, the alternative to a Save a Heart flight and treatment is life in a stressful, overstimulating shelter environment and, very often, humane euthanasia due to lack of resources, said Julie Ryan-Johnson, DVM, Associate Director of Shelter Programs at Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, which makes HEARTGARD Plus (ivermectin/pyrantel), a real beef chew that prevents heartworm disease in dogs and treats and controls hookworm and roundworm infections.

Save a Heart flights and ground transports will occur approximately 2-3 times a month for one year after the inaugural mission. Each Save a Heart trip will transport 50% asymptomatic heartworm-positive dogs, (1,000 for the year) with an additional 1,000 heartworm-negative shelter dogs, for a total of 2,000 shelter dogs over the course of the year relocated to safety. Additionally, the initiative will help nearly 2,500 heartworm-positive shelter dogs that are not transported; those dogs will receive medication in Louisiana via the Save a Heart initiative, saving even more lives.

Good Flights is staffed with trained and seasoned animal welfare transport professionals who adhere to best practices in pet transport. Good Flights covers all transport costs and provides mentorship to sending shelters as well as pet care supplies, like crates and bowls donated by The Animal Rescue Site, and cash grant support to all shelter partners.

Good Flights is a program of Greater Good Charities that conducts life-saving airlifts and ground transport for at-risk pet populations with a heavy focus on asymptomatic heartworm-positive shelter dogs as well as disaster relief, homeless cats, and bully breeds. All shelter pets transported via Good Flights will be done so in compliance with the USDA interstate regulations. Learn more at greatergood.org.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION: HEARTGARD Plus (ivermectin/pyrantel) is well tolerated. All dogs should be tested for heartworm infection before starting a preventive program. Following the use of HEARTGARD Plus, digestive and neurological side effects have rarely been reported. For more information, click here for full prescribing information.

1American Heartworm Society. No State is Heartworm Free: AHS Announces Findings of 2019 Heartworm Incidence Survey. https://www.heartwormsociety.org/in-the-news/558-ahs-announces-findings-of-2019- heartworm-incidence-survey?highlight=WyJsb3Vpc2lhbmEiXQ. Accessed March 31, 2020.

HEARTGARD is a registered trademark of Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 2021 Greater Good Charities. All Rights Reserved. US-PET- 0333-2021-v2

# # #

About Greater Good CharitiesGreater Good Charities is a 501(c)(3) national nonprofit organization, with a 100/100 rating on Charity Navigator, that works to amplify the good in the world to improve the health and well-being of people, pets, and the planet. Since 2007, Greater Good Charities has given over $300 million in cash and in-kind grants to over 5,000 charitable partners worldwide and funded projects in 121 countries. To date, Greater Good Charities has provided over $22 million in support for COVID-19 disaster-relief, including cash grants, in-kind supplies, and programmatic support. To learn more about how Greater Good Charities is amplifying the good across the globe, please visit greatergood.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or YouTube.

About Boehringer Ingelheim Animal HealthThe lives of animals and humans are interconnected in deep and complex ways. We know that when animals are healthy, humans are healthier too. Across the globe, our9,700employees are dedicated to delivering value through innovation, thus enhancing the well-being of both. Respect for animals, humans and the environment guides us every day. We develop solutions and provide services to protect animals from disease and pain. We support our customers in taking care of the health of their animals and protect our communities against life- and society-threatening diseases. Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health is the second largest animal health business in the world, with net sales of $4.7 billion (4.1 billion euros) in 2020 andpresence in more than 150 countries. Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health has a significant presence in the United States,with more than 3,100 employees in places that include Georgia, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, New Jersey and Puerto Rico. To learn more, visit http://www.boehringer-ingelheim.us, http://www.facebook.com/BoehringerAHUS or http://www.twitter.com/Boehringer_AH.About The Animal Rescue Site by GreaterGoodThe Animal Rescue Site is one of a suite of charitable sites launched by GreaterGood beginning with The Hunger Site in 1999. The family of sites empowers people to affect positive change by making ordinary online actions extraordinary. GreaterGood is a powerful fund-raising vehicle for worthy causes in the U.S. and around the world and has proudly funded more than $65 million in charitable donations to causes that help people, pets, and the planet.

Excerpt from:

Greater Good Charities with Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, and The Animal Rescue Site to Launch Good Flights Program, Will Transport 1,000...

Grant of $10,000 will help save more pet lives in Schaumburg, IL area

Submitted by Dawn Takagi

Almost Home Foundation announced today a $10,000 grant investment from the newly named, Petco Love, to support their lifesaving work for animals in the Schaumburg, IL area.

Petco Love is a nonprofit leading change for pets nationally by harnessing the power of love to make communities and pet families closer, stronger and healthier. Since their founding in 1999, as the Petco Foundation, they've empowered organizations with nearly $300 million invested to date in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. And, they've helped find loving homes for more than 6.5 million pets in partnership with Petco and more than 4,000 organizations, like ours, nationwide.

"Today Petco Love announces an investment in Almost Home Foundation and hundreds of other organizations as part of our commitment to create a future in which no pet is unnecessarily euthanized," said Susanne Kogut, President of Petco Love. "Our local investments are only one component. This month, we will also launch the first of our national tools to empower all animal lovers to drive lifesaving change right alongside us."

"This grant is tremendous for us. Thanks to Petco Love, we will be able to save more pets in need and have an even bigger impact by reducing both shelter intake and euthanasia," said Rosemary McNiff, president of Almost Home Foundation. "Our primary focus is to save those animals needing us most. We have helped some remote southern shelters decrease their euthanasia rate by 33 percent."

Almost Home Foundation is an all volunteer, registered, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization, serving the Schaumburg, IL area, dedicated to rescuing adoptable cats and dogs. In 2020, it saved 1,106 cats and dogs; and notably, in 2018 rescued over 300 heartworm positive dogs. Almost Home Foundation acquired the Guidestar Platinum Seal of Transparency and Top-Rated Great Non-Profits Award in 2020 and 2021.

For more information about Almost Home Foundation, visit http://www.AlmostHomeFoundation.org, and to learn more about Petco Love, visit https://petcolove.org.

About Almost Home Foundation

Almost Home Foundation dog and cat rescue was founded in 2005. We are a non-profit, all volunteer, foster-based rescue funded solely by private donations. We have no paid employees. We rely on volunteers to dedicate their time, homes and hearts for our rescued animals until they find their loving forever homes. Thanks to our network of foster homes, and financial support from fundraising, weve been able to reach out to save animals not only throughout Illinois, but in many other states including Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. We have also driven many miles to save animals from other states including Mississippi and a South Dakota Indian reservation. Almost Home Foundation does not discriminate based on breed, age, or health of an animal. Visit AlmostHomeFoundation.org to learn more about fostering, adopting, or volunteering with us.

About Petco Love (Formerly Petco Foundation)

Petco Love is a nonprofit changing lives by making communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. Since our founding in 1999 as the Petco Foundation, we've empowered animal welfare organizations by investing nearly $300 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. We've helped find loving homes for more than 6.5 million pets in partnership with Petco and organizations nationwide. Today, our love for pets drives us to lead with innovation, creating tools animal lovers need to reunite lost pets, and lead with passion, inspiring and mobilizing communities and our more than 4,000 animal welfare partners to drive lifesaving change alongside us. Is love calling you? Join us. Visit petcolove.org to be part of the lifesaving work we're leading every day.

Read the rest here:

Newly Named Petco Love Invests in Lifesaving Work of Almost Home Foundation - Chicago Daily Herald

France: A bill to legalise euthanasia was smothered by delaying tactics in the French Parliament this week.

The bill was a personal initiative of Olivier Falorni, a deputy for the parliamentary splinter group Libertes et Territoires ("Freedom and Territories"). He says that the law would put a stop to a national "hypocrisy" because French residents often travelled to Belgium or Switzerland for assisted suicide. He claims that French doctors are already performing 2,000 to 4,000 euthanasia every year but secretly.

The bills opponents filed about 3,000 amendments ahead of the debate which slowed down proceedings and made a vote in the allotted time impossible.

If it had passed, France would have become the fifth European Union country to permit euthanasia after the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Spain. (Switzerland allows assisted suicide, but not euthanasia.)

Neither President Emanuel Macron nor his government have taken sides, although the president said in 2017: "I myself wish to choose the end of my life".

The Minister of Health, Olivier Vran, said he was not convinced that France should have a large-scale debate during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Latvia. On March 25, after a long debate, the Latvian Parliament (Saeima) rejected a public petition which had called for the legalisation of euthanasia. A total of 49 members voted for rejection, 38 voted against, and two abstained.

Opponents emphasised that Latvia needed to get its palliative care system in order first, before considering right-to-die initiatives. Deputy Vitlijs Orlovs, who is a doctor, declared in the debate: I was taught to fight for patients lives to the end. I cannot imagine injecting a person with some substance to help them die not for any amount of money.

Supporters stressed a need to do away with end-of-life misery. People think this will open a can of worms, said Pteris Buks, the author of the petition, but Holland has 17 million inhabitants and 6,000 euthanasia cases. This means that in Latvia these could be about 600 cases. We have ten times fewer people.

Hat tip to Alex Schadenberg.

Michael Cook is editor of BioEdge

Go here to read the rest:

'Dignity in dying' legislation fails in France and Latvia - BioEdge