Geoffrey Hosta is a board-certified emergency room doctor with more than 30 years of experience in emergency medicine. "About 1 in 4 elderly people will develop dementia. Many of them will be tortured by doctors. I should know: I am one of those doctors. I recently tortured an 88-year-old woman with advanced dementia. Her mind [...]
Can I Bring Death Talk to My Holiday Dinner? By Loretta S. Downs That was the question I was asked at a recent presentation I gave on Advance Healthcare Planning (ACP). “Of course, you can,” I replied. “Just be prepared with some information and look for an opening.” Whether you gather for the holidays with [...]
People Magazine: Dan Diaz"Before her death, Diaz told his wife that he would continue working to get the law passed in more states. When Brittany died, it was available in Washington, Oregon, Vermont, and Montana. Five years later it’s available in nine states — including California, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, Maine, New Jersey, Oregon, and Vermont [...]
"Whether suffering is “intolerable,” Dr. David Grube said, “is defined by the patient. The point is the suffering is defined by the person, not by the doctor or the priest.” Grube, 72, a retired Oregon family physician who is national medical director for the nonprofit group Compassion & Choices, spoke to an audience of about [...]
Besides Oregon, medical aid in dying, with similar rules and provisions, is available in D.C. and the states of California, Colorado, Montana, Vermont, Washington state and, most recently, Hawaii, Maine and New Jersey — three states that enacted laws this year. With interest and support growing for such a law in Illinois, Southern Illinois University [...]
Click here for full piece: Wisconsin State Senator introduces Medical-Aid-In-Dying Legislation an 11th time
Entire piece: Barbara Coombs Lee in Bloomington-Normal "Advocates for medically-assisted suicide are trying to lay the groundwork for Illinois to pass a "death with dignity" law. Barbara Coombs Lee, president of Compassion and Choices, will be leading a discussion about end-of-life choices at Illinois State University's Alumni Center on Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. She [...]
Finish Strong - Advocates in Bloomington-Normal While end-of-life planning is the discussion that no one wants to have, the work is life-affirming. "It can be scary to think about our mortality," said Barbara Coombs Lee, president of Compassion & Choices, a nationwide nonprofit organization that works to improve care and expand choice at the end [...]
"Compassion & Choices today praised SAGE, the world’s largest organization dedicated to improving the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) elders, for endorsing medical aid-in-dying laws. Medical aid-in-dying laws give mentally capable, terminally ill adults the option to request a doctor’s prescription for medication they can decide to take to peacefully end intolerable [...]
"Tennessee's 'death with dignity' push came from larger than life, politician John Jay Hooker, who died of metastatic melanoma a year after Brittany. In a July 2015 interview with FOX 17 News, Hooker explains, “I'm like a melanoma tree. If you look on my legs and chest, my arms and my scalp, you'll see all [...]
