National Roundup

Hawaii Law allowing ­medically ­assisted suicide takes effect HONOLULU (AP) - Hawaii's new medically assisted suicide law has gone into effect, but few doctors and pharmacies are willing to prescribe and dispense the life-ending medications. Hawaii Pacific Health and The Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu said their pharmacies will not fill the prescriptions and hospitalized patients will not be able to take the lethal drugs on their campuses, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Tuesday. The law allows doctors to fulfill requests from terminally ill patients for prescription medication that will allow them to die. The law's restrictions require two health care providers to confirm a patient's diagnosis, prognosis, ability to make decisions and that the request is voluntary. Patients must make three requests for the medication, voicing two at least 20 days apart and writing the third signed by two witnesses. Most health care facilities have adopted neutral policies on the law, leaving it up to individual doctors to decide whether to participate. "There are a number of health care providers, nurses and others who are really uncomfortable about this, so asking anybody to participate as a patient ends their life is a really tough thing," said Melinda Ashton, chief quality officer for Hawaii Pacific Health, one of the state's largest health care providers. "The most recent barrier does seem to be we haven't yet located a pharmacy willing to provide the medication." CVS Pharmacy said pharmacists in Hawaii will follow a "carefully outlined process for the filling of such prescriptions under the limited circumstances" defined by law. Individual pharmacists will decide whether to fill the prescriptions, the company said. Physicians might be resistant to the law at first, said Dr. Daniel Fischberg, medical director of the Queen's Medical Center Pain and Palliative Care Department. "There's definitely diversity of opinion. A minority of physicians feel prepared to actually participate in terms of writing a prescription," Fischberg said. The state Department of Health projects that 40 to 70 patients will seek medical aid in dying this year. Care providers and the state Health Department are offering training sessions to medical personnel on how to handle requests for life-ending medication. Missouri Drunken driver hits deputy's home on New Year's Eve SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) - Authorities say a drunken driver crashed into a sheriff's deputy's home in southwest Missouri on New Year's Eve. The Greene County Sheriff's Office says in a Facebook post that no one was seriously hurt when the driver went off the side of a road and smashed into the corner of the home. The driver was under the age of 21. Pictures posted online show a crumpled garage door and debris strewn across the driveway. The post says the deputy's personal motorcycle and patrol car were damaged. North Carolina City orders Daughters of the Confederacy to remove monument WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - A North Carolina city has told the owner of a recently vandalized Confederate monument to remove it by Jan. 31 or face a possible lawsuit. The Winston-Salem Journal reports the city's mayor, Allen Joines, announced at Tuesday's Emancipation Proclamation ceremony that the United Daughters of the Confederacy could face legal action if the group doesn't comply. State law makes it difficult to remove monuments on public property, but the Confederate Soldiers Monument is on private property. Last week, someone wrote "cowards & traitors" on the statue's base. It was previously vandalized after the 2017 deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Considering that and the confrontations over Confederate monuments elsewhere, the city attorney believes it creates a public nuisance. The newspaper couldn't reach the statue's owner for comment. Tennessee Ex-priest ­convicted of rape dies in prison NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A former Tennessee priest who was forced from the priesthood in 1989 has died in prison while serving time for a 1999 child rape conviction. The Tennessean reports South Central Correctional Facility officials say 74-year-old Edward McKeown died Sunday of natural causes. He pleaded guilty to repeatedly abusing a 12-year-old boy and was sentenced to 25 years. Prosecutors said then that he had abuse dozens of boys over two decades. McKeown had been ordained in 1970. Then-Bishop Edward U. Kmiec has said he was removed from "direct or unsupervised contact with youth" when accused of molestation in 1986. But court records unsealed in 2002 say McKeown was allowed to continue working with children. He was forced from the priesthood in 1989 and went to work at the county juvenile court. Delaware Court: Man acquitted of drug charges won't get seized money DOVER, Del. (AP) - A court has ruled that a Delaware man acquitted of drug charges won't get the thousands of dollars seized in the drug bust back. The Delaware State News reports that the Superior Court ruling issued last week says Jeffrey Crippen isn't entitled to the $13,584 because of the lack of documentation and proof that the money was legitimately earned. Dover police had searched Crippen's home in 2015. According to the Delaware Department of Justice, Crippen was acquitted of drug charges but sentenced to 10 years in prison for weapons charges. The court also said that the initial confiscation of the three bundles of cash was allowed based on legitimate probable cause. Crippen represented himself in the petition case. The report didn't include comment from him. South Dakota Parents sue, claiming disabled students abused ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) - The parents of three children with disabilities are suing the Aberdeen School District, claiming the students were physically and emotionally abused. The plaintiffs are not identified in the federal lawsuit which seeks at least $75,000 in damages. The school district has not yet responded to the lawsuit. Aberdeen American News reports the parents say their 13-year-old children were physically and mentally abused by staff at May Overby Elementary School and that administrators failed to take action when notified of the abuse. The plaintiffs say their children were happy and thriving at Lincoln Elementary until they reached third grade and had to transfer to May Overby. The lawsuit says each child began to express significant distress with attending school. Published: Thu, Jan 03, 2019