db's Medical Rants

Alice writes:
I’ll agree to support states’ rights for Oregon, if those judges can reason far enough to then apply that same standard to states’ anti-abortion laws. Surely if one state can decide to kill its elderly, another state can decide not to kill its babies. And maybe if this were permitted, it would promote a [...]

A reader asked why I had moral problems with the Oregon law. I have written about the difference between active and passive euthanasia in the past – and provide these two links:
I the Oregon assisted suicide law legal
More on passive euthanasia
Those two posts make my personal position clear.
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Occasionally this blog provides me intellectual entertainment. Two weeks ago I blogged about the Vioxx settlement. An interesting perspective on the Vioxx damage award This rant has sparked one of the most spirited, entertaining and thoughtful debates ever seen on this blog.
Curious JD stands on one side. He consistently attacks physicians. [...]

If you have a JAMA subscription here is the link to an excellent commentary – Medical Marijuana, American Federalism, and the Supreme Court
The analysis is more technical (legally) than I really understand, but these quotes give the gist of the argument.
In Gonzalez v Raich, the US Supreme Court held that federal law enforcement authorities could [...]

Boys and girls this is not California, or Oregon, or even Nevada. This is the Deep South. Prescription for pot?
My colleague, Amos Bailey, gives some excellent summaries here:
Besides acting as an analgesic for chronic-pain patients, marijuana is used as an appetite stimulant and anti-nausea drug.
Doctors believe it works in the part of the [...]

I am continuing to post concerning this patient because of the great interest that she engenders. First, the American people agree with the courts:
USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll results
I greatly admire Charles Krauthammer. He trained as a physician, and I believe practiced psychiatry. I find him thoughtful, logical and well considered in his opinions. [...]

From the NY Times – A Blow to the Rule of Law
That should have settled the matter. But supporters of Ms. Schiavo’s parents, particularly members of the religious right, leaned heavily on Congress and the White House to step in. They did so yesterday with the new law, which gives “any parent of Theresa Marie [...]

Justices Accept Oregon Case Weighing Assisted Suicide
In an action likely to reopen a national debate over whether doctors should be able to help terminally ill patients end their lives, the Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to hear the Bush administration’s challenge to the only state law in the country that authorizes physician-assisted suicide.
Oregon’s Death With [...]

Please read this rant. Patient autonomy trumped by family . . and the lawyers!
I would not have listened to the family. They were wrong. The lawyer was wrong. I would take my chances and would have never consulted the ethics committee.
In my opinion, the medical actions left the physicians and the [...]

Supreme Court to weigh medical marijuana laws
Supporters of Raich and another ill woman who filed a lawsuit after her home was raided by federal agents argue that people with the AIDS virus, cancer and other diseases should be able to grow and use marijuana.
Besides California, nine other states allow people to use marijuana if their [...]