The Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) is calling for provinces and territories to legally recognize advance care directives for minors who are very sick or dying.  In a position paper published last week the CPS states that: 
Medical and technological advances have resulted in higher survival rates in… children with complex health conditions, many of whom would not [...]

[The Independent] It might be termed the hallucinogenic way of death. Psychoactive drugs such as “magic mushrooms” could be used to enhance the experience of dying, according to an expert in medical ethics.
Robin Mackenzie, director of medical law and ethics at the University of Kent, is to call today for people to be given more [...]

Three years after the fight over Terri Schiavo pulled the nation into the end-of-life debate, the case of a comatose Fresno County woman is reopening old wounds — and could prove even more inflammatory.
The family of Janet Rivera, 46, wants to keep her alive in a Fresno hospital. The county, acting as her legal guardian, [...]

Newswise — Nearly one in 10 obstetricians in a new study has considered giving up obstetric practice because of the emotional toll of stillbirths and infant deaths.
Three-quarters of the 804 obstetricians who responded to a survey by researchers at the University of Michigan Health System reported that the experience took a large emotional toll on [...]

A decision to forcibly impose chemotherapy on an 11-year-old Hamilton boy who didn’t want to go through another round of painful treatment was “heavy-handed” and “worrisome” considering how often similar conflicts arise, several bioethicists said Monday.The boy, who cannot be named because he is now in the care of the Children’s Aid Society, has been [...]

Providing proportionate medical care is crucial – a balance between overtreating and undertreating patients – but I worry that ’slow medicine’ may be linked more with saving money than providing quality patient care, per the below NYT article.
Edie Gieg, 85, strides ahead of people half her age and plays a fast-paced game of tennis. But when [...]

How will the world look in the year 2058? Sixty thinkers from around the world rise to that challenge in “The Way We Will Be 50 Years From Today,” a collection of essays edited by longtime journalist Mike Wallace.

The consensus view is that we’ll muddle through many of the issues that vex us today – [...]

Millions of baby boomers are about to enter a health care system for seniors that not only isn’t ready for them, but may even discourage them from getting quality care.
“We face an impending crisis as the growing number of older patients, who are living longer with more complex health needs, increasingly outpaces the number of [...]

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) released an ethics statement that a clinician must perform requested abortion-related services or refer patients to someone who will, potentially violating federal laws preventing “abortion-related discrimination and protecting a doctor’s conscience rights.” 
The ethics statement has been met with opposition and concern by many including Michael Leavitt, Health [...]

If there is a right to die there will be a duty to end life: Bioethics and Euthanasia. 
A French teacher suffering from a rare case of cancer that has left her disfigured lost a request Monday that she had lodged in a court to be allowed to die by euthanasia. Chantal Sébire, 52, suffers from [...]