I was pleased to see the following brief commentary printed in yesterday's New York Times.
There is a “better way to die,” and it is legal in all 50 states. It is commonly called Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking or Patient Refusal of Nutrition and Hydration. My mother chose this way to end her life when she was informed that her chemotherapy and radiation treatment for oral cancer had failed and she faced a death marked by pain and occlusion of her windpipe by the tumor that grew in her jaw. She was depressed when she was told her prognosis, but her demeanor reversed when she took control of her life and decided to die on her own terms, without having to suffer the final stages of her disease.
She decided to stop eating and drinking completely when she learned that hunger and thirst abate after only a day or two and there is no additional pain. She received visitors and dozed off and on for 10 days; on the 11th day she became less responsive, and on the 12th day she died peacefully.
The question is: Why don’t doctors inform patients of this option?
SUSAN SCHAFFER
Durham, N.C.
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