Legal Debate Over Doctor-Assisted Death
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2013-03-05/legal-debate-over-doctor-assisted-death
Montana’s House of Representatives passed a bill that could imprison doctors for assisting in suicide. Legislation is pending in other states to make it legal. A panel joins Diane to discuss the legal and political debate over end-of-life issues.
Guests
Thaddeus Pope
director of the Health Law Institute and associate law professor at Hamline University School of Law.
Dr. Joanne Lynn
geriatrician, hospice physician and director of the Altarum Institute Center on Elder Care and Advanced Illness.
Dr. Krayton Kerns
doctor of veterinary medicine and Republican member of the Montana Legislature.
Barbara Coombs Lee
president, Compassion & Choices, and chief petitioner of the 1997 Oregon Death with Dignity Act. She was a nurse and physician assistant before becoming a private attorney.
Comments
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Good for you! I wish you were my doctor.
There was a lot of misinformation. Too much from the vet to chronicle here. The claim that suffering can be alleviated with medication is false. The practice of withdrawing water and nutrition to allow a patient to die a slow painful death is inhumane. That is something that should prosecuted, not the practice of allowing a patient to make a decision about their end of life care. If the hospice nurse has a patient who wants to die for legitimate reasons, she will give them the choice of a slow death, a painful death, or her ultimate choice, a slow, painful death all done so she can further her misguided understanding of end of life issues.
Please keep her away from me in my time of need.
IMHO, people have a right to a peaceful exit.
@CherylM
What a tragic story you share of doing everything right for your mother only to have her wishes patently disregarded. We at Compassion & Choices are looking to chronicle stories like yours so that we can "put a face on" the growing issue of Unwanted and Forced Medical Treatment (aka torture).
You can share your story here:
http://www.compassionandchoices.org/voices-of-compassion/submit-your-story/
It is outrageous that lawmakers who believe themselves to posses Divine Right over us all use their position to force their narrow religious views on their constituents. I personally believe we are created in God's image and - unlike animals - have reasoning, skill and yes CHOICE. My choice to refuse futile treatment and if it came to it, chose to intend a death which is already in process is mine and mine alone to make.
My sister cared for my father, mother, sister and brother when they dyed.
In all cases it was a long, painful road they traveled.
When my sister was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and all interventions failed, she organized a party for all people who would be coming tho the funeral.
This allowed everyone to become familiar with each other before her death.
Also, she organized a painting party. Yes, they painted a casket.
This all sounds rather bizarre, until you have seen what actually happened.
People bonded.
At the end of her life, she checked into an hospice close to her son and daughter, brother and other sister.
They were close the last weeks of her life, and when the pain became to much, she decided it was enough.
Withe help of a doctor, a legally lethal dose was administered, and she dyed in peace, surrounded by her close ones.
Yes, this happened in Holland.
Diane, you were right to ask your guests about the comparison how we treat our pets.
I have listened to many similar programs, but the one that made the most lasting impression was from a vet, who said that she would be put in jail if she treated her animal patients the way the medical profession treats humans.
My mother dyed by withholding food. It took more than a week.