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Advance care planning for dementia: a case study–Part 1

Rebecca Dresser is a law professor and recognized expert in biomedical ethics. She argues that "people usually live for many years after a dementia diagnosis, years in which meaningful and satisfying life can continue. People can’t be sure how they will fare as dementia patients . . ."  She suggests that because dementia patients can adapt to their new circumstances, they must, therefore, be allowed to accept this new life.. Lamar Hankins analyses her ideas in a two-part post. (Continue reading ...)
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Considering Gorsuch’s critique of Oregon’s DWDA

In his 2006 book about death with dignity and the right to die (The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia), Neil Gorsuch leveled several criticisms, by implication, against Oregon's Death With Dignity Act (DWDA), a law that deals not at all with assisted suicide or euthanasia.  Under the Oregon law, a person desiring a hastened death in the face of terminal illness may take his own life with a lethal prescription drug or drugs, unassisted by another person.  Nevertheless, Gorsuch argues that we can't determine the value of the DWDA for other jurisdictions without knowing how Oregon's law is working in practice, and he asserts that we don't have enough information about that. (Continue reading ...)
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Biologist Jerry Coyne discusses mental illness and assisted suicide

Jerry Coyne, Ph.D., an American biologist recently published a post on his blog titled "Thought for the day: On mental illness and assisted suicide," discussing the topic just after the suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain.  In the post, he includes a video of Adam Maier-Clayton, a former frequent contributor to FEN’s Facebook page, where his death in April 2017 was announced with both sadness and understanding. (Continue reading ...)
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DWD and disability–Part 2

The idea suggested by some disability rights advocates, that most of us will be disabled in one way or another by the time we reach the end of our lives, has been borne out in my experience.  Virtually everyone I have known who has died has met, days or weeks or months before their deaths, the definition of disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. How can we assure that those who are disabled are not coerced into ending their lives too soon? (Continue reading ...)
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