AABHL Conference - How Should We Decide?

The Australasian Association of Bioethics and Health Law (AABHL) will hold its annual conference in Perth from the 2nd-4th of October 2014, at the University of Western Australia. The theme of the conference is ‘How Should We Decide?’The intersections of health, bioethics and law raise challenging questions.  How do patients decide on their treatment or on participation in research? How do substitute decisions makers make decisions? How...

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Association for Practical and Professional Ethics - End-of-Life Sessions ar Annual Conference

The 23rd annual international conference of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics will be held in Jacksonville, Florida from February 27 through March 2, 2014.  There are plenty of end-of-life policy and ethics sessions:Incentivizing Organ Donation:  A Response to Calls for Iterative Policy ImplementationJames RheaUniversity of South CarolinaNo Last Resort:  Pitting the Right to Die Against the Right to Medical Self-determinationMichael...

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Common Palliative Care Practices Misconstrued as "Murder" and "Killing"

This week, a British paper reports that Shanna Hodge has endured abusive messages labeling her a "baby killer" after making the agonizing decision to turn off her dying son's life support system. She even tried to take her own life following her abuse and is now fearful to walk down the street and answer her phone.While sad and disturbing, this story reminded me of something even more disturbing:  a March 2012 study in the Journal of Palliative...

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First Ever Global Atlas Identifies Unmet Need for Palliative Care

Only 1 in 10 people who need palliative care - that is medical care to relieve the pain, symptoms and stress of serious illness - is currently receiving it. This unmet need has just been mapped for the first time in the Global Atlas of Palliative Care at the End of Life, published jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance (WPCA).What Is Palliative Care?Palliative care is more than just pain relief....

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$10 Million for Palliative Care Research Cooperative Group

Amy AbernethyDuke University and the University of Colorado schools of medicine have received a $10 million grant from the National Institute for Nursing Research (NINR), to continue the development of the Palliative Care Research Cooperative Group (PCRC) over the next five years.The consortium addresses national research priorities in palliative care and end-of-life by enhancing the quality and efficiency of research and educating doctors and patients...

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UK Court of Appeals to Hear Tracey Case on DNAR without Consent or Consultation

In February 2011, Janet Tracey was not consulted before a "do not resuscitate" DNR notice was placed on her medical records at Cambridge University Hospital.Her family later brought a lawsuit.  But in December 2012, High Court Justice Davies held that the failure to inform or involve Janet had "minimal causative effect," as the notice was cancelled five days later when her family objected, and not acted upon.  The judge also found...

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Online Symposium on the Munoz and McMath Cases

I a participating on an online symposium on the Munoz and McMath cases at the Union - Mt. Sinai Bioethics program blog.  My latest post concerns JPS Hospital's statutory interpretation argument on appeal.  Other participants include:Alexander M. Capron, LL.B. -- University Professor, Scott H. Bice Chair in Healthcare Law, Policy and Ethics, Professor of Law and Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, Co-Director, Pacific Center for Health Policy and EthicsMichelle Meyer, J.D., Ph.D. -- Assistant Professor of Bioethics and Director of Bioethics...

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French Court Rules Continued Treatment for Lambert Is Not Therapeutic Obstinacy

In 2005, the French Parliament enacted Law 2005-370, popularly known as Leonetti's Law.  Article 1, like recent Spanish laws, prohibits therapeutic obstinacy:“The acts of prevention, investigation or treatment must not be continued with unreasonable obstinacy. When they seem useless, disproportionate or to have no other effect than solely the artificial preservation of life, they can be withheld or withdrawn. In that case, the doctor safeguards...

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Texas, Munoz, and Mandatory Organ Donation

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb has posted a detailed and compelling legal analysis of the ongoing Munoz v. JPS Hospital (Tarrant County) case.  My favorite parts, which I have been meaning to write-up myself are these:"Unless our law and society undergo a major evolution toward Good Samaritanship, it is thus plain to me that Marlise Munoz must be permitted to have her life support disconnected.""[T]he government may not compel...

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Does Withdrawing Life-Sustaining Treatment Cause Death or Allow the Patient to Die?

Andrew McGree, at QUT Law, has just published "Does Withdrawing Life-Sustaining Treatment Cause Death or Allow the Patient to Die?" in Medical Law Review.  Here is his abstract:This article discusses recent arguments of Franklin Miller and Robert Truog about withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment and causation. The authors argue that traditional medical ethics, and the law, are mistaken to take the view that withdrawal merely allows...

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Jahi Mcmath and Medical Futility: California Law on Therapeutic Obstinacy and Non-Beneficial Treatment

"Jahi Mcmath and Medical Futility: California Law on Therapeutic Obstinacy and Non-Beneficial Treatment." This is the title of one of the two presentations that I am making at UCLA next month.  I am delighted to be part of UCLA's recent series of rather eminent speakers on end-of-life ethics (e.g. Tim Quill, Randy Curti...

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Supreme Court of Canada will Hear Carter Assisted Suicide Case

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Canada granted the application for leave to appeal in Carter v. Attorney General.In short, Ms. Kay Carter and Ms. Gloria Taylor both suffered from intractable and progressive diseases and are now deceased. They had joined with the others in bringing a civil claim before the British Columbia Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the Criminal Code provisions against assisted suicide and euthanasia, (specifically,...

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Erick Munoz Should Sue JPS for Damages

In yesterday's Los Angeles Times, Art Caplan and I argued that JPS hospital is wrong to interpret the Texas Advance Directives Act to require continued ICU interventions for Marlise Munoz contrary to her known wishes and preferences.  Now that the records confirm that Marlise Munoz is dead, I want to take my argument one step further.  JPS' interpretation is so unreasonable that it should be subject to damages for negligent infliction of...

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Another UK Inquest over Covert Unilateral Withdrawal of Life Support

The British coroners are conducting yet another inquest over yet another patient whose treatment was withdrawn without either family consent or knowledge.  This one concerns Robert Goold, who died at Cambridge's Addenbrooke Hospital last February.  One physician testified:  “The team medical view was that it would not be appropriate for resuscitation if he had a cardiac arrest, that was clear to the family. He was unlikely to...

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New Mexico Legalizes Physician Aid in Dying

Physician plaintiffs and lawyersToday, New Mexico Second Judicial District Judge Nan Nash ruled that the ability of competent, terminally ill patients to choose aid in dying is a fundamental right under the state constitution. I posted a copy of the order and opinion here.The court held that competent, terminally ill patients have a fundamental right under the New Mexico Constitution to seek a physician's help in getting prescription medications...

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Australian Medical Association Asks When -NOT- to Prolong Life

Brisbane's Courier-Mail reports that the Australian Medical Association has called for discussion of when medical science should NOT prolong the lives of the terminally ill. AMA President Steve Hambleton says it is important for families and patients to have a better understanding of the realistic outcome of treatments, including the use of drugs that might extend life for little more than weeks, but at the cost of potentially debilitating side...

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Right to Die: The Law of End-of-Life Decisionmaking

I am pleased and delighted to join law professors Alan Meisel and Kathy Cerminara as a co-author on the Right to Die: The Law of End-of-Life Decisionmaking.  This legal treatise is THE authoritative reference source on end-of-life medical matters.The publisher, Wolters Kluwer, provides the following description: The Right to Die, Third Edition analyzes the statutory and case law surrounding the profound issues of end-of-life decisionmaking....

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Medical Board of California Should Investigate Mcmath Clinicians

Jahi Mcmath died on December 12, 2013.  Yet, in just the past few days, clinicians inserted a feeding tube and tracheotomy tube at the "undisclosed facility" to which Mcmath was transferred from Oakland Children's Hospital.  Dr. Michael KamravaThe Medical Board of California should investigate the clinicians that inserted these tubes.  Performing such procedures under these circumstances is way outside the prevailing standard of care....

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Marlise Munoz: Pregnant and Dead - Anderson Cooper 360

Last night, Anderson Cooper discussed the Marlise Munoz case with Art Caplan, Head of Medical Ethics at New York University's Langone Medical CenterLegal Analyst Sunny HostinCriminal Defense Attorney Mark Geragos.Art Caplan was both articulate and entertaining as always.  This was a good discussion about the wisdom and legality of the Texas Advance Directives Act which disallows stopping life sustaining treatment for an incapacitated pregnant wom...

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Just Published: Freedom of Choice at the End of Life: Patients’ Rights in a Shifting Legal and Political Landscape

The New York Law School Law Review has just published a new issue:  "Freedom of Choice at the End of Life: Patients’ Rights in a Shifting Legal and Political Landscape" Volume 58, Issue 2 (2013-2014).The issue is based on the Freedom of Choice at the End of Life: Patients’ Rights in a Shifting Legal and Policy Landscape symposium held at New York Law School in November, 2012.  The symposium was co-sponsored by the Justice...

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CANHR v. Chapman - Decision Making for Unbefriended Patients

A few weeks ago, I blogged about a new case filed in Alameda County Superior Court, CANHR v. Chapman.  This case challenges the California mechanism for making treatment decisions for unbefriended patients in long-term care facilities.  A case management conference is scheduled for next Tuesday, January 15, before Judge Evelio Grillo (Dept. 31), the same judge who handled the Jahi Mcmath ca...

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Can a Minnesota Guardian Consent to Stopping Life Sustaining Treatment?

Can a Minnesota Guardian Consent to Stopping Life Sustaining Treatment?  The Minnesota Supreme Court will be tackling this question early next month in In re Tschumy.I have described the background and procedural history of the case here.  The Minnesota Supreme Court has scheduled en banc oral argument for February 3, 2014. &nb...

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Should the California State Bar Discipline Jahi Mcmath's Lawyer?

Sam Singer, the spokesperson for Oakland Children's Hospital relayed the following to the San Jose Mercury News:"Sadly ... Mr. Dolan is not being truthful to the public or his clients. . . .  When he says his 'medical team' wants to feed her body so her brain will have the optimum nutrients, he is either being purposely deceptive or ignorant. In either case, he is perpetuating a sad and tragic hoax on the public and the McMath family."These...

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Compassion & Choices of Minnesota Meeting

COMPASSION& CHOICESOfMINNESOTACompassion in dying        End-of-life choices_________________________________________________________________It is now legal in four states for terminally ill,mentally competent adults to get from their physicians a prescription for alife-ending medication that will bring a quick and peaceful end to suffering.We want Minnesotans to have the same right to Death with Dignity.LEARNMORE & GET INVOLVEDAttend our GET INVOLVED meeting in January to get theinformation and tools...

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ASBH 2014 - Update

The American Society of Bioethics & Humanities (ASBH) will hold its 16th annual meeting from October 16-19 in San Diego.  As a member of the program committee (along with Rebecca Garden and Sarah Shannon), I wanted to share two updates about the meeting.Plenary SpeakersWe have confirmed three plenary speakers:Patricia Benner, R.N., Ph.D, FAAN, FRCN, a preeminent nursing educator and author of From Novice to Expert: Excellence and Power in...

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Mcmath / Winkfield v. Oakland Children's Hospital: Settlement Agreement

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Bioethics Committees: Consultation, Mediation, or Adjudication?

I recently chaperoned a 6th grade field trip to the Minnesota State Capitol.  On the ceiling of the Supreme Court are four paintings, each representing an aspect of law:  Moses, Confucius, Socrates, and Count Raymond of Toulouse.  Raymond's painting is entitled "The Adjustment of Conflicting Interests" (1903).  The scene is of Raymond standing before the papal legate in 1208.  Raymond argued successfully for city freedoms,...

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Veatch Says Let Jahi Mcmath's Parents Choose their Own Definition of Death

Eminent bioethics expert Robert Veatch argues that the parents of Jahi Mcmath should get to choose their own definition of death.  He asks why "American law continues to force one standard of death on Jahi's parents and others who have plausible alternative definitions."  After all, Veatch argues, "the choice among the options is not a cut-and-dried matter of medical science."  "Why not let people have some choice based on their personal...

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New Defense of VSED - VRFF as Clinically & Ethically Legitimate Means to Hasten Death

In contrast to the extensive legislative and media focus on physician aid-in-dying, there remains little attention on another good path to hasten death: voluntarily stopping eating and drinking (VSED) aka Voluntary Refusal of Food and Fluid (VRFF).  (But see my legal analysis.)Helping to address the shortfall, two Swiss authors published a piece in the December issue of the German Scientific Journal of Nursing Pflege (Care).  Here is the...

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Mcmath Legal Challenges to Determination of Death Law Will Fail

In both the state and federal lawsuits, the Mcmath / Winkfield family is challenging the constitutionality of the Determination of Death Act.  This legal commentator is correct that such challenges are very likely to fa...

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New Hampshire Bill for Default Healthcare Surrogates

New Hampshire is one of a handful of states that has no default surrogate statute.  Therefore, when an incapacitated patient has no available healthcare agent, only through court appointment of a guardian will there be a clearly authorized healthcare substitute decision maker.Consequently, I was pleased to see the recent introduction of H.B. 1434.  Technically, it was pre-introduced.  It will be formally introduced on January...

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