Wesley J. Smith

I have been warning for years that Futile Care theorists were going to become increasingly bold in attempting to impose their quality of life judgments on unwilling patients and families. A very important futility case is ongoing right now in Winnipeg, Canada, in which a hospital insists that it has . . . . Continue Reading »

I think it is outrageous that the University of Florida is paying the murderer and anti-disabled bigot Jack Kevorkian $50,000 to speak. And I certainly don’t object to protests against that appearance. But, worried about disruption, the university is properly planning security precautions.For . . . . Continue Reading »

Most animal rights activists deny the many benefits—both scientific and medical—that we derive from doing animal research. This position is empirically untenable. Case in point: The recent experiment in which scientists created a beating heart from adult stem cells—which I blogged . . . . Continue Reading »

The embryonic stem cell/human cloning debates are not about science. They are about ethics and morality and the proper parameters, if any, to place around the incredibly powerful biotechnological sector. Some of us have long contended that the science intelligentsia want a blank check—both . . . . Continue Reading »

This animal study may pave the way for wonderful medical treatments. From the story:Scientists have created a beating heart in the laboratory in a breakthrough that could allow doctors one day to make a range of organs for transplant almost from scratch.The procedure involved stripping all the . . . . Continue Reading »

This could get ugly. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has supported “presumed consent” to organ “donation.” And this in a country that also allows Futile Care Theory, particularly for those with “mental incapacities.” The danger is obvious and acute, don’t you . . . . Continue Reading »

This morning I awoke to this very caring—yet disturbing—column (“Searching for Dignity in Old Age” published in the Tampa Tribune), awaiting perusal in my e-mail. Real estate developer Jim Dyal writes movingly of his intense grief at the increasing debility and dementia of . . . . Continue Reading »

Former Governor Booth Gardner has filed his assisted suicide legalization proposal with the Secretary of State and is out buying, er gathering, petition signatures. If the past is any clue, most media will fall over themselves to applaud the effort. But there will be important exceptions, such as . . . . Continue Reading »

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)—a (very rich) animal rights group that doesn’t spout animal rights ideology but spends tens of millions to promote the agenda—has sued a New York fois gras company for allegedly polluting water. From the story:A federal judge in White . . . . Continue Reading »

No, not a cure, but a potentially efficacious treatment to reduce symptoms and maintain cognition. The Journal of Neuroinflammation reports that fifteen Alzheimer’s patients received substantial benefit from being treated with a drug normally used to alleviate rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. . . . . Continue Reading »