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Death by Water

From the June/July 2011 Print Edition

Every sea-born whale is born to drown, Save those lost few who crush their final breath On shore, amid the gawkers come from town To grieve, perhaps, that helpless creature’s death. And deep below, invertebrates abound In silent darkness on the ocean floor To slowly moulder those already drowned, . . . . Continue Reading »

Confessions of a Health Care Rationer

From Web Exclusives

My son summarized my new situation with typical teenage irreverence: “Gee, Dad, after thirty years of providing health care, your new job is denying it.” It’s a funny line, of course, if somewhat harsh. I’ll probably let him out of his room in a few weeks. But his quip is largely untrue. Its bite comes from the fact that it’s not entirely untrue. It’s a strange turn of events, really. After all, I have always been opposed to healthcare rationing. But, then, I have always been opposed to aging, too. I have come to recognize the fundamental similarity between the two… . Continue Reading »

Free to Die

From the August/September 1999 Print Edition

“Manslaughter, I could understand how they would arrive at that. But murder? This? They must have been an astonishingly cruel jury!” Jack Kevorkian told reporter Jack Lessenberry. “You tell them I said this,” he went on. “I don’t want to be a martyr. I want to be free. And that’s why . . . . Continue Reading »

Strained Mercy

From the May 1997 Print Edition

Seduced by Death: Doctors, Patients, and the Dutch Cure By Herbert Hendin Norton, 256 pages, $27.50 Somewhere there may be a swimming coach who has never been in the water, but it is difficult to imagine that he is a very good one. Similarly, judges, legislators, and voters are making literally . . . . Continue Reading »