Physician assisted suicide is becoming a bit more popular in America. A New Mexico judge recently ruled that terminally ill, mentally competent patients have the right to ask a physician to end their lives. This would make New Mexico the fifth state to make it legal.  

My first wife progressively died for 12 years. Multiple sclerosis took her from a vibrant active person to a total invalid unable to do anything but talk. She was a prisoner inside of a body incapable of functioning to any degree whatsoever.

On New Year's Eve, three years before she died, she begged me to call Dr. Kevorkian, who became famous for assisting 130 people in their deaths. She later tried suicide and once begged me to put her in our closed garage and start the car. She did not want to die and leave her family, but living trapped inside of a body ravaged by disease was excruciating for her.

I know how I personally feel. Should I get to the point where I am without hope of ever enjoying this momentary world, I would like to simply go on over to the other side to be with my Lord.

There are some problems herein. Life should always be our priority. My heart screams out, "No to any assisted suicide." We need to put our priorities on finding new cures for disease and enabling people to live to ripe old ages so that one day, while watching Andy Griffith, we just sort of nod off and wake up in a better place.  Our society's priority must never focus on how we can more readily help our sick and aged die faster, but how we can heal and help life to be more enjoyable. However, life cannot be very enjoyable if we are imprisoned in a body that will not function.

Physician assisted suicide is also legal in Oregon, Washington, Montana and Vermont. Terminally ill patients in these states can now have their doctors prescribe a fatal prescription. Patients must make the request. Keep in mind, this is illegal in most of our country. Also, in many cases, persons get beyond the point of making such a decision and linger often in vegetative states. This is where a living will comes into play so that life support can be removed and Hospice can assist.  

I will be redundant. I don't like the idea of ending anybody's life.

About a month before my wife died, our doctor called me off into a corner and said, "Glenn, there comes a time. She has struggled with this for so long. We have done all we can do. 

My response was, "I want you to help her live." "Okay, we will do all we can, " he assured. They did try and she lived about another month. I will always be glad for that one more month as we talked about things I would otherwise have missed.  

The end of life is a tough conversation for anybody facing it regardless of which side of the bed you are sitting.

 The bible says there is a time to die. Having someone we love voluntarily make that decision about ending his or her life just doesn't seem like that is what the bible is talking about. However, keep in mind that God is bigger, more loving and far more forgiving than we are.

Glenn Mollette is the author of Silent Struggler: A Caregiver's Personal Story and nine other books. Email him or like his Facebook page for more information.

What's your view?  Write a letter to the editor or tweet News Bulletin Editor Thomas Boni @cnbeditor.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: COMMENTARY: Why I'm against assisted suicide

Each week, I have to provide commentary on some issue affecting our area.

That's usually a breeze because Crestview is a growing community with plenty to report on. Just last week, the Economic Development Council's vice president said the downtown area's development potential is virtually limitless. In today's edition, we learn about North Okaloosa Medical Center's new Wound Healing Center and the hope that hyperbaric chambers bring. In other health news, there are statewide efforts to curb smokeless tobacco use, and Crestview High School and Laurel Hill School students, among others, are taking leadership roles to spread the word.

There's a lot of good going on. But sometimes, there's a topic that needs to be written about.

This week (and, I know, a time or two in the past year), that topic is the need for community. It needs reiterating, especially in light of recent events.

Saturday, a Jacksonville jury found Michael Dunn, a 47-year-old, guilty for the attempted murders of three teens in a car with Jordan Davis, a 17-year-old who was fatally shot in 2012 during an encounter at a gas station, according to the Panama City News Herald.

Dunn confronted the teens after complaining about loud music coming from their SUV's speakers. Dunn says he saw the barrel of a gun after Davis allegedly threatened him; prosecutors say Dunn shot 10 bullets at the SUV.

Only Dunn and the teens know what really happened, but the facts following the encounter won't be ignored. Dunn did leave the gas station after he shot the firearm. He did not call the police. He did walk his dog and order a pizza. He did not tell his fiancee he saw a weapon sticking out of the SUV.

And no gun was found.

For a number of people, the case had shades of Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman, and debates centered on whether the spirit of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law was a factor.

After the jury reached a verdict, Facebook friends weighed in. One of my fellow Spring Hill College alumni, who is black, said, "So, for the sake and safety or our children, (John) and I have decided that we don't move to Florida."

Another friend who lives in the Sunshine State, also black, said, "I wish I didn't live here."

Another, also black, said, "What do I tell my boys as they grow into men?"

Others poured on. That often happens after senseless deaths occur. I believe it's a human's way of controlling an otherwise uncontrollable situation. This column might fit that bill, too. But in the interest of helping, I'll still suggest that people join multicultural organizations, occasionally immerse themselves in other environments, volunteer somewhere to mix with different age groups and understand others from diverse backgrounds.

It's easy to fear what we don't know, and to turn the unknown into a bogeyman. But gigantic, foreboding shadows on the wall could come from nothing but a small sock puppet.

Similarly, a camera tripod could look remarkably like a gun.

This incident matters because we're all Floridians, so we all should make it a point to give each other the benefit of the doubt. And maybe take a different view.

Soapbox alert, but this needs to be said: How long does someone spend at a gas station? A few minutes? So who cares what kind of music is playing? Why can't someone hear loud music — whether it's rap, classical, Christian or otherwise — and maybe just shake his or her head and think, like Louis Armstrong, "what a wonderful world"?

I don't want to pass judgment, but based on the facts from this case, a teenager would still be alive if no confrontation occurred.

It's easy, and futile, to play the "what if" game, but again, this case sort of hinges on that confrontation, a clash over cultural differences. Thinking "What awful music," but keeping that hidden, while expressing a tip of the hat to the teens likely would have garnered a different response.

The same could be said if a 48-year-old Arkansas man hadn't allegedly shot at a group of teenagers egging his car at 1 a.m. this past weekend. The teens had no weapons; they were committing criminal mischief, but in their minds, were playing a prank, according to the New York Daily News. And a 15-year-old girl died in that incident.

Really? You see teenagers messing with your car, not threatening you, and your first response is to shoot? Really?

The point is, let's not sweat the small stuff.

To help, let's build community. One way is to not pass someone on the sidewalk without offering a smile. And let's not use demeaning terms like "wingnut" and "loon" to describe people with different politics. They just disagree. It's not the end of the world. And, you know what? Let's not look for the worst in people.

Over the weekend, I was reading the News Bulletin's Facebook page and was dismayed to see one reader's comment. In the first paragraph, she criticized a city council's proposed ordinance; no problem there, as we appreciate civil disagreements. But in the second paragraph, she suggested that such an ordinance would cause residents to revolt, and even invoked a notorious criminal's name and referred to serious crimes that they "might" mimick. It was unnecessary to make her point, so I deleted that troublemaking comment.

The sad thing, though, is that she probably thought there was nothing wrong with the comment. She might have even thought she was helping; meanwhile, she was unintentionally providing an idea or frame of reference for a less stable individual.

One of my Facebook friends posted a telling meme titled, "How to start an argument online." There are two steps: First, express an opinion. Second, wait.

That's what it's come to, folks. And since we're communicating with people on a screen, almost like we're watching television or a movie, we tend to treat the conversation as entertainment. Some people are so entrenched in this culture that they see things that aren't there.

Once, someone took me to task over what I "really meant" upon saying that data "indicated" something. Well, journalists (careful ones, anyway) tend to report news in cautious terms without making something sound like a bonafide fact if they didn't witness it themselves. So when I say something like that, there's no agenda; it's just a way to make it clear that I'm reporting and am not the expert. In other words, just doing my job.

All of these stories of senseless deaths, these indications of community divisions and reading into things that aren't there, factor into why we're changing our news focus and tone, and increasingly softening the Opinion page while allowing civil, passionate debate.

This is a community newspaper, we are all neighbors, regardless of age, race, creed, socioeconomic status, office or any other characteristic, and we will not allow vitriol.

We will report the news, and we will not sugarcoat it if a jury finds someone, especially a public official, guilty. However, while we will not be thought police, we will not provide a platform for language that introduces demeaning or threatening language toward anyone.

Bank on that.

What's your view? Write a letter to the editor or tweet News Bulletin Editor Thomas Boni @cnbeditor.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: EDITOR'S DESK: Dunn case underscores the need to break down cultural walls

Sometimes, the power of the newspaper amazes me.

I’m not referring to reaching tens of thousands of readers who get their North Okaloosa news from our print and digital platforms. Rather, I'm thinking of how stories evolve after they hit the press or go live on crestviewbulletin.com.

When readers take the story and turn it into something unexpected: hopefully, something great.

A series of events these past two weeks led to such an example.

On Jan. 31, Crestview resident Deborah Reynolds-Nash visited our office and told me she tried to pay $223 of her power bill in unwrapped pennies. She could have paid in rolled coins or even dollars, but she wanted to pay this way, since she used her fireplace liberally and disagreed with the bill.

The widowed mother of four travels to Pensacola, Birmingham and North Carolina to see doctors in connection with her bone marrow transplant — travel costs that add to an already strained household budget slashed in half by the mortgage and homeowners insurance.

It’s a familiar tale that many other North Okaloosa residents and countless others are living.

Reynolds' story appeared in the Feb. 5 edition, and our 6,000 Facebook fans shared it enough so that it reached three times our usual social media audience. It sparked a debate: Was Reynolds’ action a civil protest, a way to grab corporate America’s attention, or was it unjustifiable, placing an undue burden on the cashier who doesn’t set utility rates?

Readers gave their two cents.

Of course, some didn’t read the companion commentary, the story behind the story, which stated this was not a Gulf Power-did-something-wrong story. After all, no federal statute requires a business to accept so much loose change, according to the Federal Reserve’s website.

And some didn’t read the story; they just browsed the Facebook post and asked others to fill in the blanks. We received questions that said, “Did the power company accept the money?” I politely replied, with a pasted-in link, that they’d have to read the story to find out. (It's a newspaper, folks. Let's not let smart phones and other distractions chip away our reading and comprehension skills.)

But a few readers saw the story as a charitable opportunity.

A Fort Walton Beach man emailed me links to the State of Florida's Unclaimed Property website and results from searching Reynolds' name.

A North Okaloosa man delivered a truckload of free firewood to Reynolds’ home.

A Niceville woman dropped off a $500 money order to help this woman she didn’t know. “It was just something I felt I needed to do,” she told me.

Hearing about such charitable acts was, primarily, touching, and professionally reaffirming, as these readers placed so much trust in my words on a page.

However, something far more important was happening: these Northwest Florida heroes added lines to the page and made the story great.

Whether you agree or disagree with Reynolds’ protest, how awesome is it that mostly perfect strangers came forward to help this woman? How comforting is it to hear uplifting news?   

Of course, some criticized these Good Samaritans as soon as our tweets and Facebook posts announced their good deeds.

“What about the homeless?” they said.

It’s a fair point. Initially, I wondered that, too. Then I recalled an adaptation of Loren Eiseley's essay, "The Star Thrower." In the adaptation, a father sees his son pick up starfish from the shore and toss them back, one by one, into the ocean. This bewilders the dad.

After all, “there are hundreds of thousands of starfish on this beach. You throwing a starfish back, one at a time, isn’t going to help,” he says.

The boy picks up a starfish and says, “It helped that one!”

Similarly, the people who helped Ms. Reynolds made a difference she will never forget.

In the process, through this retelling of their good deeds, I hope they’ve inspired others to do the same.

What's your view? Write a letter to the editor or tweet News Bulletin Editor Thomas Boni @cnbeditor.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: EDITOR’S DESK: Good Samaritans' actions should inspire others, not elicit scorn

Health care professionals have the expertise to know what is best for patients, and must have access to a full range of therapeutic options to use as they see fit.

They should not be burdened with administrative obstacles as they seek the most appropriate therapy. Health care professionals, not bureaucrats, should determine the best course of treatment and medications for their patients. 

I have been prescribed Victoza to treat Type II diabetes. Upon transfer to a new insurance company, I couldn't obtain a refill in a timely manner due to their determination that this medication needed pre-authorization. I couldn't afford the medication, and couldn't purchase it and wait for reimbursement, which left me with no medication for two weeks. A few months later, I attempted to obtain a refill and was told another pre-authorization was required.

Pre-authorization for medication, especially when it has already been in use, is not a sensible use of health care dollars. 

Balance is needed. Policies must not only take into account immediate costs, but also recognize that proper, early treatment of a disease can ward off future, more costly treatments such as hospitalization. When a physician prescribes medication, the insurer should not be able to refuse to cover that prescription until a patient tries and fails on a cheaper alternative not prescribed by the doctor.

We need to seize the opportunity this legislative session to ensure that our system sets the standard for continuity of care, formulary requirements and access to medicines and therapy.

Many Floridians face barriers to care when dealing with their health. We should focus on making it easier for people to care for their health, removing unnecessary obstacles that could deter patients from following necessary and cost-saving drug therapies.

Access restrictions can prohibit a provider from prescribing what they believe is the best therapy option for a patient. For example, these patients need to know there is a clear and convenient process to quickly request and override any step therapy or fail-first protocol if a doctor determines that a drug on the standard managed care protocol will not work, or could even worsen a patient’s condition.

A physician should not have to wade through bureaucratic red tape to have the more appropriate treatment covered by an insurance company. 

Instead, there should be a clear and convenient process to request an override when it is medically necessary for a patient to have an alternative, more appropriate, treatment. 

My physician has been treating me for 10 years. She knows what my diagnoses are, and how to best treat and cure those illnesses that can be cured. To have her excellent care disrupted by health insurance policy, with no provision for emergency backup, is unconscionable and unacceptable. Health insurance companies need to apply the same policies and procedures across the board. It should not be a matter of each company deciding to manipulate medical information to further their own profit. 

Individuals should be responsible for their own health. And these patients should be able to work with their physicians to determine the best course of medication, rather than having bureaucrats make the final decisions on the most appropriate treatment options.

We support the Florida Legislature’s efforts to strengthen and improve vital patient access.

Edith Gendron is the diabetes patient and Brain Bank Program manager at the Central Florida Brain Bank, Alzheimer’s and Dementia Resource Center.

What's your view?  Write a letter to the editor or tweet News Bulletin Editor Thomas Boni @cnbeditor.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: GUEST COLUMN: Physicians and patients — not bureaucrats — know best

I met Deborah Reynolds-Nash on Friday afternoon when most of our news team had left the building for a well-deserved break from non-stop reporting on the winter storm.

Renee, our editorial assistant, and I were tying up loose ends, posting stories on the web and preparing for the next week's production.

That was when Melissa, our media sales consultant, peeked in my office and said, "There's someone here to see you. She has a complaint."

That's unusual, I thought. But I took deep breaths, headed toward the reception area and braced myself for the unknown. As it happened, the complaint had to do with a power bill. I sat down to listen to Deborah's story, about how she felt she was overcharged and how she brought $223 in pennies to Crestview's Gulf Power office.

She wondered if she could write a letter to the editor or somehow express a grievance in the News Bulletin.

Anyone who knows me knows I try to tell it like it is. I'll tell you, "I'm human — perfectionist to a fault but prone to error," which I think is more respectable than filibustering for years before issuing a correction about something minimal. Similarly, I'll tell you, respectfully, what I think of your story.

"This is an unusual story — and I'd like to tell it," I told Deborah. "But I don't think this is a problem-with-Gulf-Power story. They have the right to set and change their business practices. I believe this story is much larger than that. It tells of the struggles many people are experiencing in this economy."

Still, you don't see seven bags containing thousands of pennies every day. It's an unusual story for this area. And it brought the most unusual photo opportunity I can recall. Honestly, how often do you handle someone else's money? Especially when it's a significant amount?

For some people, money is a personal matter; it should be handled with care and it is meant to be spent wisely.

As Deborah defended her decision to buy Scott toilet tissue over the generic brand that doesn't last as long, and said she used the fireplace — now mere decoration for many households that trade higher power bills for convenience — I knew we shared similar values.

Her penny plan was understandable. Not necessarily justifiable — that's not for me to say —  but understandable.

If your bill is higher than expected, sometimes the only option is to pay. So some people civilly express dissatisfaction with that.

People like Julann Roe in Dade City, who in November paid her $11,075.44 property tax bill in $1 bills and pennies, according to the Tampa Bay Times; Larry Gasper in Redding, Calif., who paid nearly $15,000 in late property taxes last year with two buckets full of coins and cash, according to ABC News; and a number of others, from England to China, who apparently wanted to send a message.

Right or wrong, such symbolic acts are becoming a trend, and say a lot about the shape our economy is in.

RELATED: Read Deborah Reynolds-Nash's story here>>

What's your view? Write a letter to the editor or tweet News Bulletin Editor Thomas Boni @cnbeditor.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: EDITOR’S DESK: Paying in change: a telling trend