There is much commentary in the blogosphere about the rather poignant letter of Dr. John Pollock to the New Zealand Doctor magazine advocating euthanasia. Dr Pollock is dying from terminal malignant melanoma. While I very much empathise with Dr. Pollock, I think neither he, nor the blogosphere supporters of euthanasia, actually understand the implication of [...]

Obama announces. President Barack Obama sent Congress his new budget overnight, a plan that forecasts the government spending a record US$1.66 trillion ($2.37 trillion) more than it takes in through taxes. 1.66 TRILLION deficit in a single year… If you laid every dollar bill end to end you could walk on them through the centre [...]

Euthanasia is a topic not unlike abortion, in that it generates a great deal of heat in a conversation and very little light. Like abortion, it is being practiced in New Zealand. Unlike abortion, there is no set of rules to guide it’s use and overt euthanasia often meets the business end of Law Enforcement [...]

I see the thrill of Phil is fading fast. The latest Colmar Brunton poll sees him sliding down four points to 5%. That’s barely above the margin of error. I don’t think I recall even Bill English ever dipping below double figures in a Colmar Brunton poll. And Labour is now on 31%, which is [...]

Ron Paterson reckons that up to 85% of terminally ill New Zealanders do not get support when they need it to have a “good death”. He was speaking at a seminar on the Liverpool Care Pathway for Dying Patients at the time. This “statistic” has the hallmarks of guesswork rather than reality, as Paterson is [...]

In the Herald today: Dr Penelope Briscoe, dean of the faculty of pain medicine at Australia and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA), says reform is needed to curb the illicit use and sale of powerful prescription medicines. I view statements like this with some trepidation. I don’t know how it is in Australia, but, [...]

Predictably, the Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill was decisively exterminated before it even reached select committee. No surprises there, but good on Metiria Turei for taking the time to put the bill forward. Readers of this blog may now be scratching their heads, because they know that the MacDoctor is not in favour [...]

SanLu is likely to face bankrupcy, making Fonterra’s stake (which was recently written down by $139 million to $62 million) increasingly dicey. One News reports: Industrial experts told the newspaper that it is unlikely a single company will be able to take over Sanlu as its debts total more than 700 million yuan  ($NZ169 million) [...]

I see a study has confirmed what I have always believed, that being straight with patients with terminal illness and discussing death openly is good for them. Sure, it is uncomfortable for the doctor and unpleasant for the patient and family, but I have always found that fear of the unknown is much worse than [...]

Doctors, in general, do not handle death well. After all, we are trained as health problem solvers and the biggest problem in health is always the end of life. Because we find death uncomfortable, we tend to behave a little weirdly around the dying. I have seen doctors beat around the bush, never answering the [...]