A year ago, I lost my 36-year-old husband to cancer. In the first few months after his death, I often felt lost without the heroic man I fell in love with 14 years earlier. But in our last few weeks together, I promised J.J. that...
They received the same diagnosis—and chose two very different paths J.J. Hanson—a loving husband, father, and Marine—was diagnosed in spring 2014 with grade 4 Glioblastoma Multiforme, the deadliest form of brain cancer. He was right in the prime of his life. This aggressive cancer was the same...
Hawaii's new medically assisted suicide law has gone into effect, but few doctors and pharmacies are willing to prescribe and dispense the life-ending medications. Hawaii Pacific Health and The Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu said their pharmacies will not fill the prescriptions and hospitalized patients will...
A central question raised by Yager et al1 is whether it is ethical for psychiatrists to be involved in competency assessments in the context of so-called “physician assisted death.” (We endorse, and herein employ, the terminology advocated by the American College of Physicians and the American...
Nova Scotia's only Catholic hospital is at risk of being found in violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and human rights legislation by refusing to provide medical assistance in dying, a Halifax law professor says. St. Martha's Regional Hospital in Antigonish, N.S., is a...
In a recent Wicked Local Lexington commentary (“Medical aid in dying important for some with disabilities,” Sept. 28), Michael Martignetti argues for the legalization of assisted suicide from the perspective of someone with the progressive neurological disability, Friedrichs ataxia. I can relate to the author’s...
by Shane E. Macaulay, MD The American Medical Association, and the entire profession of medicine in the U.S., stand at a crucial ethical crossroads. For two years the AMA has been considering the question of physician-assisted suicide (PAS): shall physician assistance with patient suicide now be considered...
In his 29 years as chief executive officer of Hospice Maui, LaGoy said he has often heard incoming patients talk about wanting to end their lives early because they imagine all the suffering that lies ahead. But he said that two big things usually happen...
"While many people are affected by euthanasia and assisted suicide, it’s the lives of people with disabilities, elders and people with chronic and degenerative illnesses that are on the line. The one thing that everyone eligible for these practices has in common is disability. People...
Canada would be venturing into barely charted waters if it were to expand its assisted-dying law to cover young teenagers and patients with mental illness or severe dementia, according to three long-awaited reports exploring how other countries handle ethically challenging requests for the procedure. The trio...