AFTER ALL, DARWINISM IS ALL ABOUT KILLING THE WEAK AND DIFFERENT:

Oregon Patients Prescribed Lethal Drugs for "Fear" of Pain and Loss of Dignity (Hilary White, March 7, 2008, LifeSiteNews.com)

A new study shows that doctors in Oregon, where physician assisted suicide (PAS) is legal, have prescribed lethal drugs to patients not actually suffering severe symptoms of their diseases. Patients have been prescribed the drugs upon experiencing only fear of future suffering and loss of dignity in the dying process, research reveals. [...]

The study, from the Journal of General Internal Medicine, asked relatives of patients who died by assisted suicide in Oregon to describe the reasons for their loved-ones' requests. "In most cases, future concerns about physical symptoms were rated as more important than physical symptoms present at the time of the request," the report says.

The study backs up other reports that show fear of pain, disability and "being a burden," rather than actual symptoms of disease, is a leading motive for requests for PAS.

It's a circle of vice: sick people are prone to depression and family and the health care industry have an economic interest in being rid of them.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 9, 2008 12:26 PM