Patient Choices Vermont (PCV) appears to be trying to drum up users for Act 39. It seems that some 108 requests for a lethal prescription (87 of which were used) since 2013 aren’t enough, and they hope that S.74 will help make it easier to end the lives of more people using doctor-prescribed lethal drugs. Briefly, the changes proposed under S.74 are as … [Read more...] about S.74: A step down the slippery slope
Palliative Care
No Words Minced in This Piece about Brittany Maynard’s and Compassion and Choices’ Attempt to Silence Opposition
Here's Wesley Smith, writing in The National Review: http://www.nationalreview.com/human-exceptionalism A few quotes, with which True Dignity heartily agrees: The Brittany Maynard media explosion (my takes here and here) is an intense advocacy offensive–funded substantially by the culturally subversive George Soros through his support of Compassion and Choices–that is … [Read more...] about No Words Minced in This Piece about Brittany Maynard’s and Compassion and Choices’ Attempt to Silence Opposition
Think Being Enrolled in Hospice Means a Person is Receiving Good End of Life Care? Think Again.
Proponents of assisted suicide often cite the fact that most Oregon patients who die from assisted suicide are enrolled in hospice to try to prove that legal assisted suicide has led to enormous improvements in end of life care. Kathleen Foley MD, a neurologist and palliative care physician who holds the The Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Chair, disagrees. … [Read more...] about Think Being Enrolled in Hospice Means a Person is Receiving Good End of Life Care? Think Again.
Why is Harry Chen Opposed to Patients Knowing which Health Care Providers Oppose Assisted Suicide?
In response to a question regarding True Dignity’s proposal to develop a registry of “safe” health care providers and institutions, Vermont Commissioner of Health Harry Chen said one of the potential “silver linings” of S.77 is that it will spur conversations between patients and doctors about end-of-life decisions, and a “safe doctors” registry could discourage that. “I’m … [Read more...] about Why is Harry Chen Opposed to Patients Knowing which Health Care Providers Oppose Assisted Suicide?
Hospice Does Not Equal Good Pain Relief (And Other Thoughts)
On Friday, January 11, 2013, the New York Times ran a wonderful story about a nurse who spent the last weeks of her life teaching student nurses about dying, answering their questions and letting them both observe and care for her until nine days before she died of pancreatic cancer. The article, which can be read at … [Read more...] about Hospice Does Not Equal Good Pain Relief (And Other Thoughts)