End of Life
Monday, April 30th, 2012
By Denise J. Hunnell, M.D.
In 1994, Dr. Charles Cleeland authored a study that found that 42% of cancer patients with pain were receiving inadequate therapy for their pain. This led to the Health and Human Services (HHS) guidelines for more aggressive pain management and the ubiquitous question about your level of pain “on a scale of 1 to 10” every time you visit the doctor for any reason.
The interest in pain management was actually a response to the push for legalized assisted suicide. Advocates of assisted suicide claimed that uncontrolled pain justified aiding cancer patients to end their lives. At the time, there were proclamations by medical experts that 90% of pain could be easily treated and there was no risk of addiction for those who were actually in pain.
So where are we nearly two decades later? A new study just published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology finds that while pain management has improved, a significant number of cancer patients are still suffering. Dr. Michael Fisch and his colleagues looked at over three thousand patients with breast, lung, prostate, or colorectal cancer. Of the two thousand patients who complained of pain, roughly one-third were receiving inadequate therapy for their pain. The reasons for this failure to adequately alleviate pain are varied and complex. Physicians cited concerns about raising red flags for excessive use of pain relievers monitored by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) as a reason for using suboptimal doses of opiod analgesics. Patients resisted the use of pain medicine, fearing these powerful drugs would adversely affect their level of functioning. Some patients had a cultural stoicism that made it difficult for them to admit they had pain and needed medication. Many patients did not speak English well and had a difficult time communicating their need for pain relief to their physicians. In 50% of all patients with inadequate pain relief, oncologists treating the patient did not deem the pain to be related to cancer and therefore, did not aggressively pursue therapy to alleviate the pain. (more…)
Tags: bioethics
Posted in Bioethics, Denise Hunnell MD, End of Life, Euthanasia, Feature Post, PAS, Truth and Charity Forum | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 25th, 2012
By Pamela Muller Swartzberg
The following was taken from remarks by Pamela Muller Swartzberg given at the New Jersey chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association following the death of her father. Pamela contacted HLI America following the publication of Dr. Denise Hunnell’s article “Authentic Compassion” on the Truth and Charity Forum.
I have been a pro-life advocate for as long as I can remember. In recent years, my passion for life has grown to include a deeper understanding that pro-life advocacy is about much more than abortion. “Pro-life” encompasses all life, a fact which became abundantly clear to me as I walked with my father in the culmination of his life’s journey – walked with him through the years of Alzheimer’s disease.
Let me tell you a bit about my father, Jim, who passed away 3 years ago. Dad was and remains a hero. He was a helicopter pilot in the Korean War where he flew rescue missions that saved the lives of countless soldiers. He was a brilliant student and later a leader in his industry. He was a husband, father and grandfather beyond description. All who encountered him, whether in their personal lives or in business, knew immediately that they had met a master – a truly honorable, kind, generous man of great depth and humility.
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Tags: Alzheimer's disease
Posted in Dignity of the Disabled, End of Life, Feature Post, HLI Staff, Testimonies: Finding Hope through the Struggle, Truth and Charity Forum | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, April 17th, 2012
By Denise J. Hunnell, M.D.
Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself.
The closing prayer of the Divine Mercy Chaplet was on my mind when I read about Charles D. Snelling and his wife Adrienne. The Snellings were deeply devoted to each other for over sixty years of marriage. They were blessed with five children and eleven grandchildren. They were both well educated and came from socially prominent families. Yet on March 29, 2012, Charles Snelling killed his wife and then took his own life. According to the Washington Post, Adrienne Snelling had Alzheimer’s disease and did not want to live after all hope of a “good life” was over.
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Tags: euthanasia, Salvifici Doloris, Spe Salvi
Posted in Assisted Suicide, Denise Hunnell MD, End of Life, Euthanasia, Feature Post, Truth and Charity Forum | 4 Comments »
Monday, April 2nd, 2012
By Denise J. Hunnell, M.D.
“The Catholic Church opposes life-saving stem-cell research!”
How many times have we seen this claim repeated by credulous reporters? More importantly, how many of us know that this claim is completely false?
To be clear, the Catholic Church does oppose embryonic stem-cell research — that is, the kind that creates and destroys embryonic human beings. But the Church strongly supports research that uses donated adult stem cells and umbilical cord blood cells — the only type of research that is actually yielding life-saving therapies today.
Donated stem cells have the potential to develop into more specific cells, many of which are already used to treat cancer, genetic diseases and immunodeficiency disorders. Sadly, while umbilical cord blood can offer life-saving therapy, it is usually discarded as medical waste.
(more…)
Tags: adult stem cells, umbilical cord blood
Posted in Beginning of Life, Denise Hunnell MD, Feature Post, Organ Donation, Stem Cells, Truth and Charity Forum | 4 Comments »
Thursday, March 22nd, 2012
By Arland K. Nichols
In 1997 the state of Oregon legalized physician assisted suicide (PAS), allowing a physician to aid and abet an individual in the unthinkable act of self-murder without fear of criminal prosecution. In many ways this disastrous decision both marked and helped to effect a shift in the thinking of Americans, many of whom increasingly view the elderly and disabled as expendable if they are no longer useful to society.
Since 1997, proponents of physician-assisted suicide (PAS) have found efforts to legalize the practice to be slow going—only Washington State has joined Oregon by declaring suicide a medical treatment in keeping with the needs of patients. In the meantime, however, it appears that society has warmed to PAS, as supporters have manipulated public opinion by employing euphemisms to make it more palatable. Advocates describe PAS in sterile terms such as “self termination” and “self deliverance,” and even apparently laudable terms such as “an act of compassion and mercy,” a “choice for freedom from suffering” and “aid in dying.” Behind this fabricated veil of credibility and compassion, they have won victories in the court of public opinion.
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Tags: death panels, Ezekiel Emanuel, Gov. Sarah Palin, Oregon, President Obama, Washington
Posted in Arland K. Nichols, Assisted Suicide, Election 2012, End of Life, Euthanasia, Feature Post, PAS, Politics, Politics and Faith, Truth and Charity Forum | No Comments »
Thursday, March 8th, 2012
By Arland K. Nichols
The pro-life movement has long recognized abortion as the most important and fundamental issue of our day. For good reason, a candidate’s position on the right to life has weighed heavily in the voting booth for those who believe in the dignity of human life. We recognize that “the direct and intentional destruction of innocent human life” as the Bishops of the United States have emphasized, “from the moment of conception until natural death is always wrong. Abortion is not just one issue among many. The destruction of innocent human life must always be opposed.”
The Bishops here recall the Fifth Commandment – “Thou shall not kill.” They call to mind the disorder that entered into the world when Cain viciously murdered his brother and God says to him, “Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the soil.” Our Shepherds remind us of Saint Thomas Aquinas’ emphasis that every human being, by nature, desires to preserve life, and that murder is an affront to our natural human inclination. And they echo the clear and fundamental teaching of our beloved champion of life, Blessed John Paul II who wrote that:
Disregard for the right to life, precisely because it leads to the killing of the person whom society exists to serve, is what most directly conflicts with the possibility of achieving the common good. It is impossible to further the common good without acknowledging and defending the right to life.
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Tags: Blessed John Paul II, Election 2012, right to life, vote
Posted in Arland K. Nichols, Beginning of Life, Election 2012, End of Life, Feature Post, Marriage, Family & Sexuality, Politics, Truth and Charity Forum | No Comments »
Thursday, February 16th, 2012
Why Is Selling Eggs an Exception to Law?
By Denise J. Hunnell, M.D.
(Zenit.org) – Catholic teaching is consistent and clear. The sale of human organs and tissues is immoral because it demeans human dignity and regards the human person as a commodity. John Paul II addressed the subject in a speech to the 18th International Congress of the Transplantation Society in August, 2000:
“It must first be emphasized … that every organ transplant has its source in a decision of great ethical value: ‘the decision to offer without reward a part of one’s own body for the health and well-being of another person’… Accordingly, any procedure which tends to commercialize human organs or to consider them as items of exchange or trade must be considered morally unacceptable, because to use the body as an ‘object’ is to violate the dignity of the human person.
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Tags: Eggsploitation, HHS, IVF, organ donation
Posted in Bioethics, Denise Hunnell MD, Feature Post, IVF, Organ Donation, Politics and Faith, Truth and Charity Forum | No Comments »
Friday, January 6th, 2012
By Denise J. Hunnell, M.D.
Are there significant consequences when doctors and nurses provide health care that violates their moral or professional principles? The APPROPRICUS study, results of which were reported in the December 28 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), suggests that the inability of physicians to practice medicine in accord with their personal ethical standards leaves them professionally dissatisfied and clinically less effective. Specifically, the authors conclude:
Among a group of European and Israeli ICU clinicians, perceptions of inappropriate care were frequently reported and were inversely associated with factors indicating good teamwork.
Researchers across Europe and Israel surveyed doctors and nurses working in intensive care units. If the physician or the nurse perceived he or she was providing inappropriate care to a patient, they completed a detailed questionnaire. Inappropriate care was defined as care that did not meet the professional, ethical, or moral standards of the medical personnel. The results assessed the impressions of 1651 clinicians.
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Tags: conscience rights
Posted in Bioethics, Denise Hunnell MD, End of Life, Feature Post, Truth and Charity Forum | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 15th, 2011
By Denise Hunnell, M.D.
What’s wrong with paying people in dire straits for their kidneys?
Dr. Sally Satel asks the question many consider taboo in the November 8 Wall Street Journal. In her op-ed, she argues for the compensation of organ donors in order to alleviate the worldwide shortage of kidneys, livers and lungs needed for transplantation. Herself the recipient of a donor kidney, she points to the tens of thousands who are waiting for organs in the United States, as well as the twelve patients who die every day because no donor kidney is available as justification for her position. Since a black market already exists for transplant organs, Satel argues, legalizing organ sales is a win-win proposition, especially for those facing financial hardships:
Were donor compensation legal, it might have been a good option for Donna Barbera of California. Last week, she wrote me asking how she could sell her kidney. She sent her phone number and blood type. “I do not find anything immoral about helping someone get a kidney and in return they help me out of a financial bind,” she said by email, noting that she faces foreclosure on her house. “I have a donor card on my license, so my intentions have always been to help. I just thought maybe someone could help me too.”
Revising NOTA [1984’s National Organ Transplant Act] would allow healthy people like Donna to save a life in exchange for bettering their own. As countries provide for their own needy patients, they will keep future clients from patronizing people like Levy Rosenbaum—and they’ll keep brokers from preying on the vulnerable.
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Tags: Blessed John Paul II, Dr. Sally Satel, Evangelium vitae, Wall Street Journal
Posted in Denise Hunnell MD, Feature Post, Organ Donation, Truth and Charity Forum | 1 Comment »
