The Useless Tree

End of Life Issues

  • It’s not Zen, it’s Taoism

    Atul Gawande has a beautiful piece in last week's New Yorker on hospice care and end of life issues.  Having had end of life experiences in recent years with my son, my mother and my aunt, it really hit home… Continue reading

  • Growing old well

    NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty writes (and speaks) a tribute to Fred Stocking, a man who taught at Williams College for over forty years.  Living and working here for the past twenty years, I came to know Fred mostly by reputation,… Continue reading

  • Assisted Suicide

        This past Sunday, the NYT Magazine ran a piece on assisted suicide.  As I started to read it, I thought it conjured up certain Confucian themes, but by the time I had finished it, I was definitely thinking… Continue reading

  • Euthanasia in China

         A sad story in the LA Times yesterday about a severely disabled woman in China who is asserting a right to die: Confined to a rusty wheelchair and unable to control her muscles below her neck, Li Yan… Continue reading

  • Buddhism and Death

         I must preface this post by saying I do not know all that much about Buddhism.  In recent years, I have been spending time learning what I can about pre-Qin Chinese thought, a historical period well before Buddhism… Continue reading

  • Do Not Resuscitate

        A long piece today in the NYT on end of life issues, specifically the questions that surround whether or not to establish "do not resuscitate" (DNR) orders for terminally ill patients.      These are difficult issues, with… Continue reading

  • Baby MB: A Good Outcome

        Before Aidan got sick for the last time, I had blogged about the case of Baby MB, an 18-month-old boy in Britain with severe, and most likely fatal, disabilities.  The national health service wanted to discontinue his care,… Continue reading

  • Baby MB and the Social Context of Human Life

        In Britain a difficult ethical case is unfolding, involving a profoundly disabled 17-month old child, Baby MB.  It seems the child was born prematurely with a terribly debilitating condition: The boy, who can be named only as MB,… Continue reading