The letter “Aid-in-dying empowers patients to make decision,” April 11, argues the availability of assisted suicide is empowering; however, assisted suicide devalues the lives of individuals with disabilities and diminishes patient choice by creating perverse incentives for insurance companies to offer a cheap death over costly treatment. The author claimed data from Oregon show

In the current ageist climate, legalizing assisted suicide is downright dangerous for the elderly. What is urgently needed is a concerted effort to terminate elder abuse and to work towards a more inclusive, more caring and less ageist society. “…As the debate rages over when or how to resume public life, older adults like Reed

  Thank you so much for your overwhelming support! #GivingTuesdayNOW has been a wonderful day of unity and generosity. We remain committed to patients and families NOW and always! Matt Vallière, Executive Director  

  Double your Gift today!  Join us today and Give $5! Click here to see how Patients Right Action Fund is calling for the protection of all patients.  For the price of a latte you can support the fight to protect all patients during this pandemic and into the future! Click here to donate today!

  Join the Patients Rights Action Fund Today for #GivingTuesdayNow Give $5 today on 5/5 and your gift will be matched! At a time when we are all experiencing the pandemic, generosity is what brings us all together and will get us through it. Generosity gives everyone the power to make a positive change in

Today is #GivingTuesdayNow, a new global day of giving that unites us all through generosity. Today, we have the power to heal communities in good times and bad. A global threat like COVID-19 touches every person on the planet, and it presents an opportunity to come together as a global community. Give $5 and your

  …Roughly one in four adults in the U.S. has a disability, and an estimated 60% of Americans have at least one chronic health condition that could make the symptoms of COVID-19 more severe or deadly. Even in normal times, people with disabilities and chronic illnesses confront biases in medical care, face waiting lists to

“Among the rationing plans being discussed to respond to the strain the surge in coronavirus cases is expected to place on the capabilities of hospitals in some cases, the Pittsburgh Model Plan Regarding the Allocation of Scarce Critical Care Resources during a Public Health Emergency (1) is being given the most play. The Plan would

  Today, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the plague scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail hits painfully close to home, as an older man is thrown on a dead body cart, protesting he’s “not dead” – yet. Today, we’re seeing countless medical triage policies that would literally throw older and disabled

  Click here to watch Roger Severino, director of the HHS Office for Civil Rights, as he joins Shannon Bream on ‘Fox News @ Night.’ “We do have these protections to make sure that illegitimate criteria, especially weighing the relative worth of one person versus another…we owe it to people…to give them clear guidelines so

Damian Gregory worries about the things that have quickly become normal to worry about in the coronavirus era: Is there Clorox at the grocery store this week? When will social distancing end? Will he and his family stay healthy until a vaccine is found? But the 46-year-old consultant and advocate, who has cerebral palsy, says

  Please click here to view our 2020 winter newsletter…

As the COVID-19 pandemic hurdles us to the breaking point of our medical system in various hot spots across the country, we are being forced to face our faults and our fears in the raw. As a first responder, I have seen the issues with providing quality care for everyone in the current environment. Despite

(GETTY IMAGES) STRESS CAUSED BY widespread social distancing to blunt the spread of the coronavirus may be creating the unintended consequence of increasing the risk of suicide in the general population, according to new research published in JAMA Psychiatry. The study – “Suicide Mortality and Coronavirus Disease 2019 – A Perfect Storm?” – identifies a

There has not been, in living memory, more focus on healthcare, the vital role of doctors, the sacrifices made by nurses, and the wonderful efforts of everyone involved in the sector. Amid the coronavirus crisis, daily heroism, the scale of human loss, and the awful scenes in hospitals underline what is important – and what

I keep hearing about how disabled people are panicked over covid-19. As a disabled person, I know this is true… The fear and outrage are real. I was born with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a neuromuscular weakness, and have never stood or walked. My respiratory muscles are so weak that the slightest cold could kill me. So

  The suicide rate in the United States continues to rise, increasing 35% for almost two decades from 1999 through 2018, according to a new data brief released by the National Center for Health Statistics on Wednesday. The report included mortality data from the center’s National Vital Statistics System. The data showed that the suicide

  In a recent Letter to the Editor (“A good time to take action on end-of-life options,” by Eric J. Ruby, M.D., Taunton Gazette, March 31), the author used the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to urge state legislators to pass the “End of Life Option Act” (H.1926). There is never a good time to