I basically got nothing today: it’s one of those days when I come to work with a few lame ideas that I can’t work up enthusiasm to write about. Fortunately, Ceiling Cat usually saves me by the intervention of kindly readers, who send me items that are more interesting. I have three today, which I’ll combine in a single post.

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First, my physician Alex Lickerman (see my posts about him here), a secular Buddhist who has a Psychology Today website called “Happiness in this World,” has published a moving piece about assisted dying. The topic of death has been much on his mind since his father recently passed away (see the poignant pieces about it here and here), and he decided to give the issue a wider airing in Slate, in an article called “Achieving a good death.” It tells the story of Michael, a man struck down by ALS, and how Alex helped him with his final exit. An except:

Which is why I told Michael that though I couldn’t prevent him from dying, I could give him the power to choose how and when his death would occur. (Though physician-assisted suicide remains illegal in most states, withdrawal of care is permitted in terminal cases if death will occur as a result of the underlying disease process and not as a result of direct physician intervention.) And in the thanks he expressed—painstakingly, over 20 minutes on his cardboard tablet—about being given back that control, I found the reason my interactions with dying patients have been among the most gratifying of my career. For when a patient’s death becomes impossible to prevent, I’ve never believed that there’s nothing I can do. On the contrary, I find I’m needed to offer what are arguably the three most important things a doctor can: a willingness to discuss the subject of mortality, guidance regarding end-of-life care, and a promise to do everything I can to limit suffering and preserve patient autonomy.

You can read the piece to find out how a good physician helps limit suffering and preserve autonomy at death.

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You may remember the several posts I put up about the First Nations girls afflicted with leukemia who were refused protection by the Canadian government when their parents decided to give them “alternative medicine” rather than chemotherapy. Cowed by the thought of violating ethnic traditions, the government allowed both girls, in lieu of chemotherapy (which is highly effective for their disease) to be treated at the Hippocrates Health Institute in Florida, a quack operation where cancer patients are given special vegetarian diets and “cold laser treatment.” None of the Hippocrates treatments are of any value in curing leukemia. And those kind of treatments are hardly a “tradition”: for any First Nations tribes!

Well, one girl, Makayla Sault, has already died, and the other, “J. J.”, is in the process of dying. The Canadian government’s refusal to act to protect these children was and remains reprehensible. But there’s at least one piece of good news, although it’s not great news. Reader Diana MacPherson informs me, through a link on the CBC News, that Brian Clement, director of the Hippocrates Health Institute, has been ordered by the state of Florida to stop representing himself as a doctor and to cease practicing medicine without a license. This action is apparently a result of news about his treatment of Makayla and J. J.:

In documents obtained by CBC News, Florida’s Department of Health say they have probable cause to believe the director of the Hippocrates Health Institute treated two children battling leukemia “with unproven and possibly dangerous therapies.”

. . . Makayla died last month, after suffering a relapse of leukemia. Her death is currently being investigated by Ontario’s coroner’s office.

J.J.  is another 11-year-old girl with leukemia who left chemotherapy to attend the Hippocrates institute last August. Her identity can’t be revealed because of a publication ban.

Her mother told CBC News that she was convinced her daughter should abandon chemotherapy after speaking with Clement.

“By him saying, ‘Oh yes, no problem we can help her,’ that’s the day I stopped the chemo.”

Clement denies having said this to the girl’s mother.

Clement is also being sued by former employees who were fired for criticizing his pretense of giving medical treatment, and he may face felony charges for practicing medicine without a license. The CBC also notes that his “degrees” are either lame or bogus:

Clement claims to have a doctorate of naturopathic medicine and a PhD in nutrition from the University of Science Arts and Technology (USAT), based in Montserrat.

However, USAT president Orien Tulp said, “Brian Clement, he is not anaturopathic doctor from USAT. I can guarantee that. He shouldn’t be making false claims for one. If he is, I’ll withdraw his degree.”

George Gollin, a professor at the University of Illinois who has investigated USAT, calls it a diploma mill.

“It’s horrible,” Gollin says. “I could have printed him a degree on a laser printer and it would be … just as indicative of training and skills. What I think is terrible is that he’s using this, as I understand it, to treat patients who are desperately sick children.”

Clement’s treatment is what the Canadian government considered valid alternative treatment to chemotherapy. Will they rethink their policy of non-intevention now that this quack has killed two children? I doubt it.

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Finally, a quick note about a good book. Philosopher Walter Kaufmann wrote two excellent critiques of religion:  Critique of Religion and Philosophy and The Faith of a Heretic. I’ve read and liked both and give quotations from then in The Albatross. The former is more academic and philosophical, the latter more personal and readable; but both are superb. Reader Christopher now informs me that The Faith of a Heretic, long out of print, will be available on Kindle on June 8. (Twelve of the thirteen reader reviews give it the full five stars.) You can order it here. It’s a Professor Ceiling Cat Book Club Recommendation, though I don’t have the reach of Oprah.