Eighteen months ago True Dignity ran the following story about an elderly Medicaid patient who felt pressured to request assisted suicide by caregivers in the facility where she was admitted for recovery from a fall. The patient did not have a terminal diagnosis. Beth Neill, the patient's daughter, who reported the abuse to True Dignity, has since passed away. We are running … [Read more...] about Pressure to Die: A Case Study of Abuse of Act 39
Cheapness of Assisted Suicide
Assisted Suicide is Not a Private Act. It is a Social Danger
As the UK Parliament continues to debate legalizing assisted suicide, here's a good article reminding us of what it seems should be obvious to everyone. Assisted suicide is not a private matter. It affects a whole society in ways that should, but no longer do, appall everyone. Suicide itself is known to be contagious. When the social stigma surrounding it is eliminated by … [Read more...] about Assisted Suicide is Not a Private Act. It is a Social Danger
Calls and Emails Still Needed to NJ Senators, with a Link to an Excellent Source for Preparing for Them
The NJ Senate could vote on the assisted suicide bill already passed by that state’s Assembly as early as January 13, 2015. We urge people__especially people from NJ, but anyone from any state who believes the spread of assisted suicide is dangerous public policy and a risk to everyone, everywhere__to contact each Senator, politely asking that he or she vote against S.382. … [Read more...] about Calls and Emails Still Needed to NJ Senators, with a Link to an Excellent Source for Preparing for Them
The True Cost Cutting Agenda Behind the Pleasant Packaging of of Legal Assisted Suicide
Attorney Margaret Dore has reminded us of a very important side story to the widely publicized Barbara Wagner case, in which the Oregon Health Plan (Oregon Medicaid) declined coverage of life extending chemotherapy for Ms. Wagner’s lung cancer in a a letter listing, among other options it would cover, physician assisted suicide ((http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=5517492). … [Read more...] about The True Cost Cutting Agenda Behind the Pleasant Packaging of of Legal Assisted Suicide
When Doctors Think Cost-Cutting Makes Them Better “Stewards of the Larger Society” Than Caregiving
The article linked below appeared in the New York Times on April 18, 2014. The trend it describes, of medical groups, individual doctors, and insurance companies making treatment decisions based on cost rather than effectiveness is dangerous in itself but would be much more so in the presence of legal assisted suicide. The article describes the decisions as being made … [Read more...] about When Doctors Think Cost-Cutting Makes Them Better “Stewards of the Larger Society” Than Caregiving