In the years following the Great War, a sense of doom and panic settled over Germany. Long concerned about a declining birth rate, the country faced the loss of 2 million of its fine young men in the war, the crushing burden of an economy devastated by war and the Great Depression, further compounded by…
Category: Euthanasia
Essays on euthanasia
Killing Mercy
The topic of euthanasia, which as an issue stays barely below our radar screens, given the host of contentious social issues taking up our political and cultural bandwidth, nevertheless may ultimately prove to be an enormous dilemma, with profound impact on both our lives as a society and as individuals. While the issue has only…
Thoughts on End of Life
One of the most challenging areas where medicine, ethics, morality, and social policy collide is that of end-of life decisions. A reader posed a question regarding sustaining life vs. terminating care in those who are not terminal per se, but no longer have intact cognitive function, e.g. severe dementia and persistent vegetative state: I was…
Dancing With Death
The war rages on. It is a battle with ancient roots, deeply embedded in religion, culture, and the tensions between rich and poor. It is a war of contrasts: high technology and primitive cultural weapons; knowledge versus ignorance; speed and urgency against the methodical slowness of an enemy who knows time is on his side….