Donie's Ireland news BLOG Thursday

Brave Marie Fleming loses her assisted suicide case against the Irish State

  

Marie Fleming pictured above left with her partner Tom Curran after leaving the High Court today and losing a legal action case against the State for the right to assisted suicide and Tony Nicklinson right who died from pneumonia after suffering from ‘locked-in syndrome’ when a 2005 stroke left him completely paralyzed and who lost his assisted suicide battle in Britain.

A severely disabled woman in the final stages of multiple sclerosis has lost her landmark High Court challenge to the absolute ban on assisted suicide.

The three judge High Court ruled today the absolute ban is justified to protect vulnerable others from involuntary death and does not breach Marie Fleming’s personal autonomy and equality rights under the Constitution and European Convention on Human Rights.

A “real risk” of removing the ban was that, even with rigorous safeguards, it “would be impossible to ensure that the aged, the disabled, the poor, the unwanted, the rejected, the lonely, the impulsive, the financially compromised and emotionally vulnerable would not avail of option in order to avoid a sense of being a burden on their family and society”, it said.

The court also found the Director of Public Prosecutions could not issue guidelines setting out what facts she would consider in deciding whether to prosecute cases of assisted suicide.

Only the Oireachtas can change the law and it would be unconstitutional for the DPP to effect a change in the law by issuing guidelines which would have the effect of the law not being enforced, it said.

However, it added, if there was “reliable” evidence after an assisted suicide of compliance with guidelines such as those set out by the UK DPP in relation to assisted suicide prosecutions, the court said it believed the DPP here would excerise her discretion “in this of all cases” in a “a humane and sensitive fashion”.

Giving the court’s judgment, the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, said the court regarded Ms Fleming as “in many ways the most remarkable witness” all three judges had ever been privileged to encounter.

“Her courage in adversity is both humbling and inspiring” he said.

If the court could tailor-make a solution which would suit the needs of Ms Fleming alone without any possible implications for third parties or society at large, there might be a good deal to be said for her Artice 40.3.2 case [relating to personal autonomy],” he said. “But this court cannot be so satisfied.”

Given the public importance of the issues raised in the case, the court said it would award costs to Ms Fleming against the State and DPP.

Outside court, Ms Fleming, in a statement read on her behalf by her solicitor, said she was “very disappointed and saddened” at the outcome but would not comment further given the likelihood of an appeal.

Ms Fleming, a 59-year-old former lecturer living in Co Wicklow, had asked the court for orders allowing her be lawfully helped take her own life at a time of her choosing so as to avoid what she fears will be a distressing and undignified death.

She argued, in her very particular circumstances, the blanket ban on assisted suicide in Section 2.2 of the Criminal Law Suicide Act 1993 breached her personal rights under the Constitution and ECHR.

The State contended, while the ban may be unfair to Ms Fleming, it was a justified and proportionate measure necessary to protect vulnerable people from involuntary death.

Ms Fleming, who is confined to a wheelchair, was in court today with her partner Tom Curran and other members of her family to hear the decision. It is expected she will appeal the 120-page judgment of the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Paul Carney and Mr Justice Gerard Hogan to the Supreme Court.

Among the issues raised in the case was whether the rights to bodily autonomy, self-determination require provision for assisted suicide in circumstances such as those of Ms Fleming despite the public policy of preserving the right to life.

Another central issue was of equality before the law. Ms Fleming argued the blanket ban was discriminatory as it meant she, as a disabled person, could not be lawfully assisted take her own life when an able-bodied person could lawfully take their own life.

She had told the court Mr Curran is willing to help her end her life but she did not want him to be at risk of prosecution.

The court was told doctors believe Ms Fleming may die within months and is unlikely to live beyond two years.

Diagnosed with MS in 1986, her condition has deteriorated to a point where she is confined to a wheelchair with limbs paralysed, suffers acute pain and has difficulty swallowing. She fears she will ultimately be unable to communicate and will die a “horrible” death.

HSE publishes its National Service plan to save €721m in 2013

  

The HSE has published its National Service Plan for 2013 explaining how it will spend its budget of €13.4 billion and make savings of over €721m.

It said that hospitals are facing an incoming projected deficit of €271m as the year starts.

The HSE said that 40,000 people will lose their medical cards, due to new income eligibility changes announced in the Budget.

The HSE Board has also decided to seek extra cost cuts in primary care of €60m, more than those announced on Budget day.

This will result in further products no longer being provided free to patients and greater scrutiny of medical card eligibility.

The plan also warns that a waiting list is likely to be set up for nursing home care, as no extra money was provided this year for the Nursing Homes Support Scheme.

It reveals that voluntary hospitals and related sectors have bank overdraft levels of €152m.

It warns of the risk that if savings are not achieved especially in primary care costs and pay and new costs are incurred, there will be a growing deficit.

The plan provides for 3,400 full-time staff leaving (4% of the workforce), generating savings of €286m, but says it is hard to assess how many may leave given the large number of departures in recent years.

Around 1,500 staff are expected to leave through “natural attrition”. Provision is also made for 1,025 key posts to be filled.

For the first time, the budget allocations are based on the projected spend rather than on historic budgets.

No manager will be allowed to plan for a deficit.

The HSE said this is to try to ensure sustainable budgets, especially in the hospital sector, which has struggled in recent years.

The plan says that this year, no adult will wait more than eight months for a planned procedure and no child more than 20 weeks.

It is also promising that no patient will wait longer than a year for an outpatient appointment.

It provides for up to 100,000 more medical cards and 130,000 GP visit cards.

Minister for Health James Reilly has approved the plan.

The plan says that the HSE will deliver the maximum level of safe services possible for the reduced funding and employment levels, which means prioritising some services to meet the most urgent needs.

An extra €17m has been made available for the extra cost of cancer drugs.

HSE Director General-designate Tony O’Brien said that he was not expecting the HSE to be seeking a supplementary budget this year.

He said that the HSE has dealt with deficits in hospitals and that the €152m maximum overdraft level for voluntary hospitals had not been reached.

Insulin breakthrough could see end to needles and injections

 

Scientists have discovered how insulin is taken up by cells, potentially opening the way for new drugs for diabetes patients that can be administered without an injection.

The team solved the puzzle of how the hormone insulin binds to its receptor in cells – a process necessary for cells to take up sugar from the blood and essential for treating diabetes.

“All of that (previous) work has taken place without a detailed picture of how insulin actually interacts with the cell and tells that cell to take up glucose from the blood,” leading scientist Mike Lawrence, at Australia’s Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne,

“What we’ve done is providing that picture,” he said of the three-dimensional view of insulin bound to its receptor that appeared in Nature on Thursday.

Researchers found that insulin engages its receptor in a very unusual way, with both insulin and its receptor rearranging themselves as they interact.

“A piece of insulin folds out and key pieces within the receptor move to engage the insulin hormone,” Lawrence said in a statement. “You might call it a ‘molecular handshake’.”

Insulin controls the levels of glucose, or sugar, in the blood, a mechanism that breaks down in people with diabetes.

Understanding the insulin binding process could lead to new ways to deliver insulin other than by injection, or the development of more effective and longer-lasting insulin products, Lawrence said.

“This structure is going to be a reference point for all future design of insulin,” he said.

“They (drug makers) are going to use that information…for the next generation of insulin delivery devices, etc.”

There are now 371 million people living with diabetes globally, up from 366 million a year ago, according to the latest report by the International Diabetes Federation.

Meanwhile in the UK

British diabetes poll a worrying signal, say experts

  

A worrying 55 per cent of people are not concerned about developing diabetes, a survey in GB found

More than half of UK adults do not see diabetes as a health threat, a survey found. It discovered that 55% of people are not concerned about developing the disease.

Almost half of Scots surveyed said diabetes is not a health consideration, while 58% of those in Northern Ireland said they are not worried about developing the condition.

The research, conducted on behalf of Asda Pharmacy, found 41% of people in both the South and North of England said they are not concerned about diabetes compared with one in three people in the Midlands and 31% of Welsh people.

The apparent lack of concern could be attributable to an inadequate knowledge about the condition, a spokeswoman said, after one in 10 of the 2,000 people polled said they do not not what what diabetes is.

Faisal Tuddy, deputy superintendent pharmacist at Asda, said: “It is worrying to discover people still aren’t clued up to the causes of diabetes, especially when statistics from Diabetes UK and the NHS prove we’re a nation at risk.

“We offer free blood glucose screening and advice to our shoppers, which can help indicate the likelihood someone has, or is at risk of developing diabetes in the future.”

In the UK, there are 3.7 million people with diabetes, including an estimated 850,000 people who have Type 2 diabetes but do not know it.

Type 1 diabetes, which develops when the body cannot produce any insulin, is an autoimmune condition that accounts for 10% of all cases of diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes, which accounts for 90% of all cases, occurs when the body does not produce enough insulin for it to function properly.

Young Irish women ignore the smoking message

As lung cancer now becomes more prominment than breast cancer

  

More women are dying from lung cancer than breast cancer as levels of smoking among women reach epidemic levels. A new report has found that almost one-in-three women now smoke, with more younger women taking up smoking.

According to the report, launched in Dublin today by TD Alex White, one in two younger and more disadvantaged women are smokers.

And women from poorer backgrounds are twice as likely to suffer from lung cancer.

The level of smoking among young women in disadvantaged areas is 56pc, according to the Irish Cancer Society (ICS).

“We have a major concern about the high rates of smoking among Irish women, particularly because lung cancer has now overtaken breast cancer as the main cause of cancer death among women in Ireland,” said Kathleen O’Meara of the ICS.

“We are also very concerned about the fact that more disadvantaged women are smoking and that the incidence of lung cancer in this social group is almost twice as high as that among better-off women.”

The report publishes the findings of a major conference organised by the ICS with the National Women’s Council of Ireland last July.

The conference investigated why such high numbers of women were smoking and what could be done.

The report also features research on how the tobacco industry is targeting women with specific marketing tactics designed to make cigarettes appear less dangerous.

Lung cancer is now the biggest cancer killer in Ireland among both men and women, with 1,708 people dying in 2010, 702 of whom were women.

Breast cancer deaths for the same period amounted to 634.

Smoking is the key cause of lung cancer and the number of cases is expected to grow each year.

Efforts have already been made this year to help curb the levels of smoking among women with the I’ll Quit When I’m 30 advertisements and a leaflet – The Beauty of Quitting – aimed at younger women, published by the ICS.

According to the ICS, women are aware of the risks, but see smoking as a way to cope with the stress and pressures of life.

Hudson Bay killer whales freed after the ice shifted

 Free at last 

Local residents fund a search for a group of whales in an attempt to ensure they do not get stuck again.

A dozen killer whales trapped under sea ice in Hudson Bay, Canada appear to have been frede after the ice shifted, officials said.

The animals slipped away after being stuck in waters for two days near the remote Inuit community of Inukjuak in Quebec.

But fears still remain that they will be cornered elsewhere and residents have hired a plane to track them down.

A business adviser with the regional government, Tommy Palliser said two hunters from Inukjuak reported that the waters had opened up around the area where the cornered whales had been bobbing frantically for air around a single, truck-sized hole in the ice.

Officials said shifting winds may have pushed the ice away and freed the whales.

“It’s certainly good news – that’s good news for the whales,” said Mr Palliser.

But residents want to be certain the whales are safe and town manager Johnny Williams said the 1,800 villagers are funding the latest aerial search.

He said: “Even though they’re a nuisance, even though they’re a killer (of) our (beluga) whales and seals. They’re like humans, they’re mammals – alive. They don’t need to suffer.”

The animals were first seen on Tuesday. A recent, sudden drop in temperature may have caught the whales off guard, leaving them trapped.

Government icebreakers were too far from the area to smash the ice to free the whales.

Before they slipped away the locals had agreed to try to enlarge the breathing hole in the ice and cut a second opening using chainsaws and drills

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans said two scientists were en route to gather information and will monitor the situation.

Ice-trapped marine mammals are not unusual in the region.