News,

A two-and-a-half-year investigation has been completed of a Swiss nurse who killed 24 elderly patients in nursing homes and attempted to kill a further three. The nurse, who has been dubbed 'Angel of Death' by the Swiss media, told investigators that he killed the patients by administering lethal injections or smothering them so as to end their suffering and ease his workload. He remains in custody and has been judged competent to stand trial. [Reuters, 14 January]


The contraceptive patch is being promoted in Norway in an attempt to tackle the high abortion rates among Norwegian teenagers. The teenage abortion rate in Norway is 2-3 times as high as in Italy with 2,200 abortions recorded in 2002. [Aftenposten, 14 January]


The French health minister has rejected the term 'murder' to describe the killing of a severely disabled man by his mother. Marie Humbert gave her son Vincent an overdose after a traffic accident left him paralysed, blind and mute. Jean-Francois Mattei the health minister said during a debate on French television: "There is a prohibition which we have held since time immemorial 'thou shalt not kill'. For a long time this rule has been applied blindly... but things change with time. However the law has not changed and maintains strict penalties." [Borneo Bulletin, 14 January]

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