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Thanks to Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition for posting the following story, which should wake up any Vermonters who think our assisted suicide law won't have casualties.  This kind of error is impossible to prevent.  Even if two doctors were required to certify that they patient is terminally ill (and as we read it the VT law requires only a referral, not … [Read more...] about Swiss Clinic Erroneously Helps Man With No Life-Threatening Illness Commit Suicide

  The Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Board of Directors has voted to enact the facility exemption rule that was included in the aid-in-dying law the Legislature passed this year, according to the Brattleboro Reformer article linked … [Read more...] about Brattleboro Hospital Enacts Facility Exemption Rule

Stephen Leffler M.D., the medical director of Fletcher Allen, writing on the hospital’s blog page, points out some of the many challenges the assisted suicide law presents to hospitals (http://fletcherallenblog.wordpress.com/2013/06/05/patient-choice-at-the-end-of-life-what-vermonts-new-law-means-for-fletcher-allen/). There is, for example, the question of how the widely … [Read more...] about Fletcher Allen’s Medical Director on the Ethical and Legal Questions Raised by the Assisted Suicide Law

There is a persistent myth circulating regarding Vermont’s assisted suicide legislation that suggests the legislation contains many safeguards to prevent abuse.  This is simply untrue.  The legislation passed in Vermont in fact contains few concrete safeguards for patients and is primarily designed to protect the doctors who enable them to kill themselves. In a June 9 … [Read more...] about The Myth of Checks and Balances in S.77