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Bereaved parents agonising over whether to subject their dead child or stillborn baby to a full post-mortem now have an alternative that is potentially far less traumatic. For fetuses and infants under the age of one, MRI scans combined with minimally invasive procedures including blood tests are as effective as an autopsy at revealing the cause of death. (New scientist)

Nurses will use extreme measures to save their patients and parents; but if they were dying, they prefer less aggressive ones for themselves, according to results from an international survey on nurses’ end-of-life preferences. (News-medical)

People were 20 percent more likely to choose DNR if it was phrased as “allowing natural death;” 25 percent if they were told it’s what most other people choose. (The Atlantic)

When the doctor showed up at his hospital bed and told Kyle Wilkerson that she had good news, that she had a heart for the Maryland teenager, Kyle had a suspicion. Mom Denise Wilkerson says her 15-year-old son looked up at the cardiologist and asked, “Is it Skylar’s heart?” (ABC News)

People with advanced cancer tend to get more aggressive care at the end of life and spend more time in the intensive care unit if they receive spiritual support from their religious communities, according to a new study. (Reuters)

This is National Nurses Week, and a perfect moment to highlight the special training, ability and insights that distinguish hospice nurses in truly remarkable ways. (Huffington Post)

The veteran 73-year-old arts critic, novelist and broadcaster was deeply affected by watching Alzheimer’s take its toll on his 95-year-old mother for five years until her death last year, and said assisted suicide was an issue for people his age. “It’s happening to my generation – they see what happens when people get close to death, and we’re saying, ‘We don’t want that.’” (The Guardian)

My problem with euthanasia is not that it is a immoral way to die, but that it has its roots in a fearful way to live. (The Guardian)

The Academy Award-nominated movie “Amour” is sparking much-needed conversations about aging, the illness of a longtime companion and dying with dignity. (The Sun Sentinel)

The report by Australia21 - a non-profit body dedicated to analysing complex issues - found even though voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide were unlawful, they occurred ”not infrequently” in Australia with no oversight and rarely any prosecutions. (The Herald Sun)

Senior Australian of the year Ian Maddocks has expressed concern that if euthanasia were legalised, death could be seen as a ”quick fix” to suffering that could be relieved with palliative care. (Sydney Morning Herald)

The husband of an Essex breast cancer patient believes her life was cut short after she was put on an end-of-life care plan despite her reluctance. (BBC)

Physicians and hospitals are broadening their efforts to help patients and families talk earlier about their preferences for end-of-life care. One of the newer initiatives is the Conversation Project, launched by a coalition of doctors, health care executives and others. (American Medical News)

Paul Lamb is the latest person to seek a change in the law so that he can be allowed to die with the help of a doctor. (BBC)

Baby boomers, like Burzichelli, a former education manager at Rutgers University, are at the forefront of a new movement. They brought on the sexual revolution, demanded natural childbirth, fought for legalized abortion and turned the mid- life crisis into a force for self-improvement. Now they’re engaged in transforming how Americans experience death. (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Mobile phones should be used to express and store our end-of-life medical care preferences, experts say. (Medical Xpress)

The long list of roles Margaret Thatcher played during her 87 years — potent politician, free-market evangelist, labor antagonist, dominant global leader — includes the one she never publicly discussed: person with dementia. (New York Times)

Mr Dunn said staff failed to tell him that his wife had been put on the end-of-life plan, only becoming aware of it when he overheard a doctor talking to a nurse. (The Telegraph)

In Belgium, between 1998 and 2007, euthanasia was legalized and palliative care was intensified, which led to an increase in end-of-life decisions (ELDs) and fewer life-ending acts without the patient’s explicit request, according to research published online March 11 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. (Medical Xpress)

Many elderly people prefer to die at home instead of in the hospital - but that’s not always the way it works out, researchers said. (Reuters)

Alternative therapies can help relieve discomfort and stress. Families can pursue and sometimes administer these therapies in both hospice and hospital settings. (Chicago Tribune)