Categories
Abortion Bioethics Chronic pain Fetal pain Philosophy

Pain as Fact and Heuristic

If you are like me, you aren’t sure what “heuristic” means. According to multiple sources, it is an experience-based technique for problem solving. In her new article,Pain as Fact and Heuristic: How Pain Neuroimaging Illuminates Moral Dimensions of Law, Professor Amanda C. Pustilnik argues against a simple understanding of physical pain as a justification for […]

Categories
Assisted suicide Australia Chronic pain Court Cases Death and dying Euthanasia Suicide

Prosecutors’ Role in Assisted Suicide

SSRN has posted a new article, Justins v. the Queen: Assisted Suicide, Juries and the Discretion to Prosecute examining an Australian case and arguing that prosecutors should very rarely charge defendants in cases of assisted suicide. The author notes that the British Crown Prosecution Service has developed guidelines for prosecutors regarding such charges. The guidelines […]

Categories
Chronic pain Death and dying Health Care Reform Hospice

Do we need more oversight of hospice care?

In The Truth Behind the Hospice Numbers J. Donald Schumacher, president and CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, responds to criticisms of poor oversight and rising hospice payments by government.

Categories
Chronic pain Death and dying Euthanasia

Lou Gerhig’s Disease and Seeking Control of Death

The Sunday New York Times has an opinion piece entitled “The Good Short Life” describing a man’s struggle with Lou Gerhig’s disease and his decision to take his own life at some point. Classifying this piece as an opinion piece makes sense when we consider that emotion, rather than reason, is the basis of public […]

Categories
Chronic pain Death and dying Hospice

New report on treatment of pain by the Institute of Medicine

Relieving Pain in America is a new report by the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine. The introduction to the report describes the report as follows: Relieving Pain in America assesses the state of the science regarding pain research, care, and education and offers a blueprint for developing a population-level strategy to increase awareness […]