Nothing as It Seems

An version of this article was printed in Humanism Ireland , May-June, Vol. 152 (2015)   Until the second half of the twentieth century, there was little disagreement, at least within mainstream western thought, over the standard for human death. Death occurs when the heart has stopped beating and breathing has come to an end. The issue of whether or not someone is dead was generally held to be a simple question of fact. However, scientific and technological advances since the late 1950s—where the heart and breathing of patients could be artificially maintained by ventilators for weeks or months after all functions of the brain are irreversibly lost—have made the whole question more complex. As a result of this, the Harvard Brain Death Committee—which included a number of medical professionals, lawyers and theologians—was established; in their landmark 1968 report they argued that the clinical standard of diagnosing death should be when the whole brain, or brainstem...

In 2001 the Netherlands made history by becoming the first country in the world to legalise same sex marriage (SSM); this feat was soon followed by their closest neighbour, Belgium. Since then several other countries have also amended their laws to permit same-sex couples to marry; they include: Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, Argentina, Denmark, Brazil, France, Uruguay, New Zealand, Great Britain, and Luxembourg. In addition, 36 states in the US, at present, allow SSM and over 70 percent of its citizens live in places where gay couples can marry.  There’s a good chance Ireland will soon also join this list. In December the Government announced that a referendum on legalising SSM will take place sometime in May. Public opinion in support of the move has remained steady over the past couple of years: one Irish Times /Ipsos MRBI poll taken just before the Cabinet announcement said that 71 percent support SSM and just 17 percent are agains...

In a recent article for the Sunday Business Post (14th Dec 2014), the science writer David Robert Grimes advises us not to be taken in by simple answers to cancer. In particular, he argues we should be highly sceptical of those who claim there’s evidence a plant based diet cures patients from the disease.  “Simplistic narratives may be alluring,” he says, “but when we seek simple answers to complex conditions like cancer, we run a serious risk of detrimental self-delusion.”  Grimes’ piece was largely in response to a new book— Stop Feeding Your Cancer —by Dr John Kelly, a Dublin based GP, who claims that the consumption of animal protein exacerbates cancer. Kelly’s evidence, according to a book review that appeared in the Irish Independent, was derived from the testimonies of over half a dozen cases—nothing, to be sure, that resembles a clinical trial. Also in response, Grimes, rightly, said that “a physician may attribute patient recovery to a special diet while u...

It emerged just recently that doctors in an Irish hospital are seeking legal advice over whether they can switch off the life support machine of a woman who is 16 weeks pregnant . The woman, believed to be in her mid to late 20s, suffered a head trauma and a clot to the brain a number of weeks ago. The family of the woman—who is reported as clinically “brain dead,” but still undeniably a living human organism*—want the medical team to allow her to die. Even though there’s no chance of revival, doctors and medical staff at the hospital are reluctant to carry out her family’s wishes because she is about 16 weeks pregnant. In order to save the life of the foetus, sustaining the mother until a Caesarean section can be carried out would be required. Some people have asked why life-support is not turned off in this case.  Conor O’Mahony, a lecturer of law at UCC, wrote in the Irish Examiner that “ [w]hile the Supreme Court has held that people have a constitutional right to...

An edited version of this article was printed in Village Magazine , November 2014   In October, Dublin City Councillors voted in favour of removing fluoride from public water supplies. The motion, which was passed by 22 votes , called for the removal of fluoride and to make it a crime for anyone that attempts to add it to water supplies. Dublin is not the first city to pass such a motion: in March, Cork City Council also passed a motion requesting the Government to end treating public water supply with fluoride. Christopher O’Sullivan , the Fianna Fáil councillor who tabled the motion, said he hoped its passing will produce a “ domino effect ” with other county councils.  Anti-fluoride groups, who are actively campaigning to end water fluoridation in Ireland, will no doubt consider these events as significant victories. Many argue that fluoridation is known to cause many health problems, such as cardiovascular and neurological disease, type 1 diabetes, osteop...