News and Views

Roman Catholic Mandate

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops urged Roman Catholic hospitals to provide food and water to all patients in persistent vegetative states, including those who are not Roman Catholic and do not want to be kept alive on life support. The statement affects more than 500 Catholic hospitals nationwide. This represents a departure from previous approaches that favored a case-by-case approach to decision making. This is more like the overall position taken regarding abortion in Roman Catholic hospitals.

Cremation and Climate Change

A variety of approaches to “go green” for burials have been described such as making coffins from recycled cardboard to omitting embalming chemicals that seep in the soil. Many have assumed that cremation is more “green” than burial. Approximately one third of all Americans and approximately one half of all Canadians choose cremation. Yet, it was recently reported that a standard cremation emits 400 kg (880 pounds) of carbon dioxide along with other pollutants like dioxins and mercury vapor if the body had silver tooth fillings. In addition, each cremation uses as much energy, in the form of natural gas and electricity, as a 500-mile (800 kilometer) automobile trip.

A new company is turning the funeral business on its head and will bury people vertically. The unique scheme is being offered as a simple, natural, and economical approach to burial. The deceased are placed in a biodegradable bag and then lowered feet first into a cylindrical hole just over 2 feet wide and approximately 10 feet deep. Upright Burials claims it is a world first and the method produces less carbon dioxide than a regular burial.

New Zealand Real Estate

It has been reported that real estate agents in New Zealand have been observed to target families grieving a loved one's death. At least one victim has complained to a new industry watchdog after her elderly mother mourning her husband received a condolence card from an agent she had never met. The woman said the card contained ownership and also valuation details of her parents' home and the agent's business card. Surely it is not only in New Zealand that such a tactic is likely to be used.

Alcohol in Australian Hospice Care

In the palliative care ward of one of the Australian hospitals, happy hour starts at 11 a.m. This is when a volunteer begins pushing his trolley, garlanded with leis and clinking with bottles of brandy and gin, through the ward, mixing tall ones for the terminally ill. “I don't know a patient who has refused a drink,” he says. “Champagne is fairly popular—we have little plastic flutes for that—and so is gin and tonic. We have a few whisky drinkers in the ward, too, and a lot of the men like a beer.” The trolley, which is paid for by the hospital, also carries a selection of red and white wines, and cheese, biscuits, soft drinks, and chocolates—all of it free for patients. Launched at the suggestion of the hospital's volunteer group, the Happy Hour service has been running for about a year. Those who are surprised will want to know that a drinks trolley was standard at U.K. inpatient hospices—even a “pub” for visitors.

Check Out Time

When an 88-year-old woman resident of an assisted living center died, the surviving relatives received a bill of nearly $1,000 because they didn't give 30 days' notice that their mother would no longer need her little apartment. From the relatives' point of view, they are being billed for not knowing the exact date their mother would die. From the facility's point of view, they have an unexpectedly empty unit to fill. Seems uncannily like the check out policies of hotels.