 |
|
Using morphine to hasten death is a myth, says doctor
March 02, 2007Using morphine to end a person's life is a myth, argues a senior doctor in a letter to this week's BMJ.
It follows the case of Kelly Taylor, a terminally ill woman who went to court earlier this month for the right to be sedated into unconsciousness by morphine, even though it will hasten her death.
Mrs Taylor's request to use morphine to make her unconscious under the principle of double effect is a puzzling choice, writes Claud Regnard, a consultant in palliative care medicine. The principle of double effect allows a doctor to administer treatment that hastens death, providing the intention is to relieve pain rather than to kill.
Evidence over the past 20 years has repeatedly shown that, used correctly, morphine is well tolerated and does not shorten life or hasten death, he explains. Its sedative effects wear off quickly (making it useless if you want to stay unconscious), toxic doses can cause distressing agitation (which is why such doses are never used in palliative care), and it has a wide therapeutic range (making death unlikely).
The Dutch know this and hardly ever use morphine for euthanasia, he writes.
Palliative care specialists are not faced with the dilemma of controlling severe pain at the risk of killing the patient-they manage pain with drugs and doses adjusted to each individual patient, while at the same time helping fear, depression and spiritual distress, he adds.
And he warns that doctors who act precipitously with high, often intravenous, doses of opioids are being misled into bad practice by the continuing promotion of double effect as a real and essential phenomenon in end of life care.
Using double effect as a justification for patient assisted suicide and euthanasia is not tenable in evidence-based medicine, he says. In end of life care, double effect is a myth leading a double life.
BMJ-British Medical Journal
Evidence over the past 20 years has repeatedly shown that, used correctly, morphine is well tolerated and does not shorten life or hasten death, he explains. Its sedative effects wear off quickly (making it useless if you want to stay unconscious), toxic doses can cause distressing agitation (which is why such doses are never used in palliative care), and it has a wide therapeutic range (making death unlikely).
The Dutch know this and hardly ever use morphine for euthanasia, he writes.
Palliative care specialists are not faced with the dilemma of controlling severe pain at the risk of killing the patient-they manage pain with drugs and doses adjusted to each individual patient, while at the same time helping fear, depression and spiritual distress, he adds.
And he warns that doctors who act precipitously with high, often intravenous, doses of opioids are being misled into bad practice by the continuing promotion of double effect as a real and essential phenomenon in end of life care.
Using double effect as a justification for patient assisted suicide and euthanasia is not tenable in evidence-based medicine, he says. In end of life care, double effect is a myth leading a double life.
BMJ-British Medical Journal
Morphine Current Events and Morphine News RSSCommon pain relief medication may encourage cancer growth
Although morphine has been the gold-standard treatment for postoperative and chronic cancer pain for two centuries, a growing body of evidence is showing that opiate-based painkillers can stimulate the growth and spread of cancer cells.
Chronic pain treatments work better together, says Queen's anesthesiologist
People who suffer from debilitating neuropathic pain may get more relief and sleep better by combining two commonly-prescribed drugs.
Infant pain, adult repercussions
Scientists at Georgia State University have uncovered the mechanisms of how pain in infancy alters how the brain processes pain in adulthood.
Nanoparticle-based battlefield pain treatment moves step closer
University of Michigan scientists have developed a combination drug that promises a safer, more precise way for medics and fellow soldiers in battle situations to give a fallen soldier both morphine and a drug that limits morphine's dangerous side effects.
Researchers explore long-term adolescent vulnerability to drugs
As part of efforts to understand drug abuse, Georgia State University researchers are finding that adolescent rats appear to be less vulnerable to the long-term effects of withdrawal and relapse in certain types of drug use than rats that take the drugs in adulthood.
Researchers find genetic link between physical pain and social rejection
UCLA psychologists have determined for the first time that a gene linked with physical pain sensitivity is associated with social pain sensitivity as well.
Chinese acupuncture affects brain's ability to regulate pain, UM study shows
Acupuncture has been used in East-Asian medicine for thousands of years to treat pain, possibly by activating the body's natural painkillers. But how it works at the cellular level is largely unknown.
Fish may actually feel pain and react to it much like humans
Fish don't make noises or contort their faces to show that it hurts when hooks are pulled from their mouths, but a Purdue University researcher believes they feel that pain all the same.
Hebrew University researchers show how morphine can be given more effectively
Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have found a way to maintain the pain-killing qualities of morphine over an extended period of time, thus providing a solution for the problem of having to administer increasing dosages of the drug in order to retain its effectiveness.
Mayo Clinic study suggests those who have chronic pain may need to assess vitamin D status
Mayo Clinic research shows a correlation between inadequate vitamin D levels and the amount of narcotic medication taken by patients who have chronic pain.
More Morphine Current Events and Morphine News Articles
 |
At Your Service by Morphine Singer Mark Sandman coined the phrase "low rock" to describe the sonorous, languid groove he created with the acclaimed Boston band Morphine. This 34 song, two-disc collection contains all previously unissued studio tracks, alternate takes, and live performances, and takesits name from the line Sandman used to kick off most shows, "We are Morphine at your service." The music spans the group's entire career and features founding members Sandman (two-string slide bass, vocals),Dana Colley (saxophone), original drummer Jerome Deupree, and his successor, Billy Conway. |
 |
Cure for Pain by Morphine Cure for Pain is a most unlikely artistic breakthrough from a thoroughly unlikely band. Fronted by saxophone and two-string slide bass guitar, Morphine earned a modicum of critical praise for their prior recording, Good, but Cure for Pain has a harder edge and a distinctly bigger sound. "Buena" urges the listener, with singer and bassist Mark Sandman's best come-hither baritone voice, "closer to the front of the stage," and then "Candy" tells a love-lost story that could come right out of Tom Waits's book. But for all the strange possibilities inherent in a guitarless band that plays off their singer's wry lyrics, Morphine's sophomore effort shows their versatility, their ability to be a rock band in a very unrock, rolling-baritone-saxophone way. Alas, singer Mark Sandman perished in... |
 |
Yes by Morphine Originally released in 1995, Yes was Boston-based trio Morphine's third album. Featuring Mark Sandman on vocals and slide bass, Dana Colley on baritone sax, and Billy Conway on drums, Yes hit #1 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart, expanding the group's substantial cult following and the appeal of their noirish, guitar free, "low rock" sonics. Critical acclaim for the album and stand-out tracks, including singles "Honey White" and Super Sex," paved the way for Morphine's major label deal the following year. The new audiophile reissue of this alt-rock classic pressed on 180-gram vinyl. |
 |
The Night by Morphine Singer-bassist-frontman Mark Sandman died July 3, 1999, onstage just outside Rome doing what he loved most. While it was never intended as a swan song, The Night, Morphine's fifth official studio album (not counting a B-sides collection or a projected live album), has all the dramatic hallmarks of a long, permanent goodbye. The band's "low-rock"--of bass, baritone sax, drums, and Sandman's own Leonard Cohen-afterworld vocals--always had a finality about it. The serious mix of blues fatalism and muted jazz hysteria filtered through the downbeat world of Tom Waits ("Like a Mirror" is gift-wrapped in his image) and other lingering beatniks always means it's 3 a.m. in Sandman's gypsy soul. The title track, "Top Floor, Bottom Buzzer," and "Rope on Fire" will stand among the finest in... |
 |
Like Swimming by Morphine Morphine's music, which connects with listeners on a very physical level, is so simple it's amazing no one's done it before. Using exclusively low-register instruments, Mark Sandman's two-string bass and baritone voice, and Dana Colley's bass and baritone saxophones, the band's songs actually reverberate in the chest, treating listeners to a low-impact massage. And anything that feels this good can't be bad. But Morphine's blessing--that distinctive low rock sound--is also their curse. Not only do they bind themselves to an instantly recognizable sound, but they also limit themselves in their arrangements: Voice and sax can each hit only one note at a time (though Colley sometimes manages to honk two saxes at once), while the bass can manage a two-note interval at best. It's hard being... |
 |
At Your Service (Amazon MP3 Exclusive Version) Morphine (Primary Contributor) |
 |
Good by Morphine With no guitars and a half a set of bass strings, Morphine managed to rock harder than most of their fret-bound competition while retaining the slippery nocturnal undercurrent that would become their signature sound. On this 1992 debut album, the Boston trio strips down the minor-key blues of frontman Mark Sandman's former group, Treat Her Right, and adds a host of off-kilter elements. Sandman's slide bass and narcoleptic vocals are perfectly complemented by Dana Colley's frenetic baritone sax, which he plays like a cross between Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Van Der Graaf Generator's David Jackson. Sandman reportedly played one-string bass for this album (he'd later expand to two), and the sound quality here is murkier than on subsequent efforts. But tracks such as the infectious "You Speak My... |
 |
Best of 1992-1995 by Morphine 2003 compilation chronicles the band's recorded output for Rykodisc & includes three previously unreleased compositions as well as an enhanced video of 'Shame' recorded live on tour in Atlanta. |
 |
B-Sides & Otherwise by Morphine |
 |
Bootleg Detroit by Morphine Not only is Bootleg Detroit an aptly named live album, it's also an atypical one. For this, "the only official live release of Morphine," Rykodisc has released a low-fidelity recording made by an audience member during the band's Cure for Pain tour in 1994. Although the recording was mastered by frontman Mark Sandman before his onstage death in 1999, the sound quality never rises above that of your average bootleg. The drum sound echoes, and the baritone sax and bass are muddy. However, Sandman's dry voice shines through fairly well. The total package is somewhat voyeuristic, as if Bootleg Detroit were meant to sound like putting an ear up against the outside of a theater. For those who never got the chance to see Morphine's amazing live show, this is, sadly, as close as one can get. Yet... |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |