Reflecting on Death and Dying in the Time of COVID
Does COVID-19 have a silver lining for advocates of death with dignity? Barak Wolff of New Mexico End-of-Life Options Coalition thinks so. (Continue reading ...)
Ableism and the Right to Die
Last week, I referred a caller to the Final Exit Network (FEN) to John B. Kelly, a Not Dead Yet opponent of right-to-die (RTD) laws. The person was inquiring on behalf of his brother (I'll call him Carl) about the education and training services that FEN offers to applicants who want to hasten their deaths. The brother was trying to learn if FEN could help Carl, who was despairing of his condition. (Continue reading ...)
Dementia directive confusion and obfuscation
Whether intentionally or inadvertently, a recent article in the Washington Post, written by a reporter with Kaiser Health News, provides confusing, incomplete, misleading, and perhaps inaccurate information about the choices a person with dementia may have. It dismisses legal issues by citing opinions from non-legal professionals. (Continue reading ...)
Contrasts between the US and Canada in the use of both MAID laws and VSED
Not only is Canada further advanced than all states in the US with respect to Medical Aid In Dying (MAID or MAiD), it also has surpassed the US for those who want to Voluntarily Stop Eating and Drinking. (Continue reading ...)
Respect for the life and death decisions of others
This week's post discusses the 2018 VSED death of Rosemary Bowen at age 94, based on the 16-minute film about her experience. (Continue reading ...)
Avoiding late-stage dementia with advance directive for stopping eating and drinking
Prof. Thaddeus Mason Pope explains the newly-effective Nevada advance directive that allows dementia patients to voluntarily stop eating and drinking (VSED) after loss of cognitive capacity, and suggests how it may be used in some other states. (Continue reading ...)
A closer look at VSED
In my last post, I discussed some general propositions about Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking (VSED). In this post, I look at some VSED issues in greater detail. (Continue reading ...)
VSED and the “rage against the dying of the light”
I learned that VSED doesn’t have to be a horrible way to hasten one’s death. With proper care, it can be done without pain or distress. The first two or three days are sometimes the most difficult because of hunger pangs and thirst. The hunger is easy to control if one has access to pain medication. The thirst can be ameliorated with proper oral care, such as judicious use of ice chips, rinses, and lubricating gels. (Continue reading ...)