The new assisted dying law report offers a revolutionary plan on how to help terminally-ill patients pass away earlier. According to The Commission on Assisted Dyeing it would be recommended to let doctors prescribe the necessary medication to help people who have less than one year to live put an end to their life. More than probably this report will launch a series of controversies and debates among those who fight against the legalizing of euthanasia. The commission is ready to come up with a set of laws which offers patients the chance to choose this type of death.

Lord Falconer, the chairman of the panel told Sky News that the legalizing of euthanasia is only a matter of time, he stated that, “There has to be a point at which the person who wants to take their own life has to do the act,[...]It could be blinking to start some sort of drip. But we are absolutely clear that there can be no circumstances in which the act is done to somebody. They must do it themselves.”

The first step in implementing the law would be to make it clear for patients that they have to convince at least two doctors of their mental competence. The answer of the Care Not Killing alliance came from Chairman Dr. Peter Saunders who stated that the legalizing of euthanasia would be a  “recipe for the abuse of elderly and disabled patients[...]We already have a law in this country which, although not perfect, works,[...]It provides a strong deterrent against exploitation and abuse while at the same time giving discretion to judges and prosecutors to temper justice with mercy.”

Image Credit: Thinkstock.com

Euthanasia launched a series of debates and controversies but not in Holland. The latest news reports reveal that the Dutch send mobile clinics to euthanise people right in their home. The Government decided to use these measures to help patients die when their GPs won’t administer the lethal medications for people. The mobile teams include numerous nurses and doctors who visit people in their own home.

The report was reveals by Edith Schippers, the Dutch Health Minister during a controversial discussion about this subject in the parliament. She claimed that, these mobile units were designed “for patients who meet the criteria for euthanasia but whose doctors are unwilling to carry it out’ was worthy of consideration.[...]If the patient thinks it desirable, the doctor can refer him or her to a mobile team or clinic,”.

The Dutch euthanasia campaign groups promote the formation of these mobile clinics following the pattern of the popular Dignitas center from Switzerland. They also want the re-elaboration of criteria for euthanasia due to the reason that 80% of patients struggling with mental illnesses and dementia were not included in the program and euthanasia laws. These groups are supported also by the Dutch Medical Association.

In this liberal country euthanasia is done with the help of a sedative which puts people in coma and then the whole process is finished with a drug which actually stops breathing and leads to imminent death. In order to benefit from this service patients have to convince at least two doctors of their intention to die. Euthanasia was legalized back in 2003 and the number of people who ask for this service increases dramatically.

Image courtesy of Ethicalframeworks

The new related to the death of an influential historical personality occupy the headlines of greatest magazines from all over the world. Readers have the chance to find out that Josef Stalin’s daughter Lana Peters has died in Wisconsin of colon cancer. Lana Peters was originally known as Svetlana Alliluyeva left the Soviet Union in 1967 and act the Soviet premier considered the perfect proof for her being ‘morally unstable’. The defection of this public personality was triggered by the bad treatment of her late husband, Brijesh Singh by the firm Soviet authorities.

This experience inspired Lana Peters to write her first book entitled, “Twenty Letters to a Friend”. Her work became a real bestseller even if she considered her act more than just artistic work. When she arrived in NYC back in 1967 the 41 years old woman claimed that, “I have come here to seek the self-expression that has been denied me for so long in Russia.” After leaving behind two children and moving to the US she decided that it as safe to return to the Soviet Union only in the 80s. Lana spent only one year in her birth-country and then turned back to the US.

The reason why she left the Soviet Union was also the fact that she began to doubt the ideology behind the communist regime. Furthermore Lana Peters also confessed that she found refuge in God and that, “it was impossible to exist without God in one’s heart.”Lana was Stalin’s only daughter, the destiny of her brothers was indeed tragic. Vasili died as an alcoholic at the age of only 40 whereas Jacob was captured by the Nazi troupes and died tragically in a concentration camp.  Svetlana Alliluyeva married architect William Wesley Peters and adopted the name Lana Peters. She dies as the age of 85 in the US.

Image courtesy of The Telegraph.co.uk

An important bill that was needed to be clamped down on Wall, Street yesterday was thrown off track because of Byrd, the democratic senator’s death. Democratic leaders where making plans to come up with a compromise deal for regulating a slew of Wall street activities followed by creating a new consumer protection bureau through congress. This plan was decided to assemble as much as sixty votes for overcoming a Republican filibuster. But then the death of the longest serving senators costs the democratic a crucial vote and knocked the assumed yeas to fifty eight. In fact, making up for this loss is next to impossible unless the democratic governor of West Virginia appoints an interim successor. And this isn’t possible at least till next week because the state is likely to untangle a kink in the forthcoming election law.

A living legend and a political icon for more than fifty years, we will always remember Robert C. Byrd as one amongst the true heroes of history.