21 Apr Hospice Transparency with Medical Aid-in-Dying Policy by Gianna R. Strand and Karin Sobeck

Posted at 13:21h in Journal

Hospice Transparency with Medical Aid-in-Dying Policy by Gianna R. Strand and Karin Sobeck Hospice Transparency with Medical Aid-in-Dying Policy: Addressing Importance and Compliance with California’s End of Life Options Act - SB 380, prepared by Gianna R. Strand, MS, Karin Sobeck, RN, MSN, MSBe, for the...

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14 Feb Medical Aid-in-Dying Diary by Barbara Garlock

Posted at 12:52h in Journal

Medical Aid-in-Dying Diary by Barbara Garlock What follows is a diary kept by Barbara Garlock, chronicling the year and a half leading up to her husband, Gayle’s, death via Medical Aid-in-Dying (MAiD) in Victoria, Canada in 2019. Gayle had been diagnosed with Lewey Body Dementia in 2014,...

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12 Aug Barriers Persist in California for Patients with Disabilities Who Seek an Assisted Death
by Melanie Marcus

Posted at 12:14h in Journal

Lonny Shavelson, MD, has prescribed Medical Aid-in-Dying (MAiD) over 200 times in the state of California. In late summer 2021, Shavelson, along with two individuals with degenerative neuromuscular diseases who qualify for MAiD in the state of California filed an injunction against California Department of...

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05 Aug The Stoic Ideal of the Good Death
by Annalisa Galgano

Posted at 13:35h in Journal

As Seneca the Younger waited to die from self-inflicted wounds in 65 CE, he is said to have dictated his last words to friends gathered in his bedchamber. Though this final speech is lost to history, perhaps Seneca recalled the admiring words he once wrote...

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10 Dec “Death Can Protect My Life,” by Paul Menzel, PhD

Posted at 08:15h in Journal

What I say here is both personal and a hopefully compelling argument. For me, and for countless others, it would be a terrible thing for my life if it were to be capped off by years of severe dementia, even if I would not suffer...

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13 Oct The Story of Susan Saran – Part Three – Judith Schwarz, PhD and David N. Hoffman, JD

Posted at 08:15h in Journal

As growing numbers of Americans live to an advanced age, the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease (ALZ) and other dementia-type diseases have also increased. Currently, an estimated 5.4 million Americans of all ages have ALZ and by 2050 as many as 16 million may be diagnosed...

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22 Jun Medical Aid in Dying: Recalibrating the Balance between Access and Safety – Thaddeus Mason Pope, JD, PhD

Posted at 08:14h in Journal

Terminally ill individuals who want to control the timing and manner of their death have several options. They can stop or refuse life-sustaining treatment like mechanical ventilation, dialysis, feeding tubes, cardiac devices, or CPR. They can voluntarily stop eating and drinking (VSED) by mouth. And...

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17 Jun The Story of Susan Saran – Part Two – Judith Schwarz, PhD and David N. Hoffman, JD

Posted at 08:13h in Journal

When dementia patients want to assert their autonomy, they often encounter the reaction that Susan Saran received: a categorical rejection of their right to refuse feeding while continuing to receive the residential care they need. While there are very specific legal obstacles to making medical...

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29 May The Healthcare Proxy Helpline – Our Response Effort to COVID-19 – Sarah J. Kiskadden-Bechtel, MBe

Posted at 08:05h in Journal

The Completed Life Initiative and End of Life Choices New York have joined together to create the Healthcare Proxy Helpline, a collaboration intended to offer a new, free service to all New Yorkers concerned about COVID-19 and their potential risk for health complications if they...

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26 May The Story of Susan Saran – Part One of a Three-part Series – Judith Schwarz, PhD and David N. Hoffman, JD

Posted at 08:02h in Journal

This is the telling of the story of Susan Saran, who fought for her right to determine her death and complete her life on her own terms after a fatal diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia. The ethical and legal divide between residents at long term care facilities...

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