New Jersey Death with Dignity Act Gets Hearing

New Jersey Assembly Bill 2270 ( introduced in February) proposes a Death with Dignity Act.  The Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday June...

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Jeralean Talley, Oldest Person in USA, Turns 115

Last Friday, Jeralean Talley, believed to be the oldest person in the USA, turned 115 years old.  She was born in 1899.The secret to her longevity may likely be movement.  Attending a celebration at her church, Talley bypassed a chair elevator at the bottom of the steps.  "I’m not waiting for that thing."  Instead, Talley grabbed a handrail, and ever so slowly, the woman who bowled until she was 104, handed her walker to a friend...

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VSED TEDx Video "Not Here By Choice"

In this 17-minute TEDx video, Phyllis Shacter talks compellingly about her husband's decision to voluntarily stop eating and drinking (VSED) to avoid living in the late stages of Alzheimer's.  I have written (here and here) to help dispel myths and perceived legal obstacles to VSED.  But the bigger hindrance is ignorance of the option.  Hopefully, with more stories like Phyllis' (see, for example, here, here, here, here, here, and here), VSED will be better recognized as a peaceful, comfortable means to hasten death. &...

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Encyclopedia of Bioethics 4th Edition - Now Available

Macmillan Reference USA has just published the 4th edition of the Encyclopedia of Bioethics.  It is available in 6 volumes or by eBook.  I am pleased to have two entries included in this edition.  With its initial publication in 1978, the Encyclopedia of Bioethics became the first reference to focus solely on a then burgeoning field, in effect helping to define the discipline. The set remains the standard reference on bioethics...

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Disability Rights v. University of Wisconsin

I blogged about this case over four years ago when it was first filed.  Disability Rights Wisconsin sued the University of Wisconsin and several individual physicians over their "plan of noncare" for several patients.  Basically, DRW's argument is that because these patients were not permanently unconscious Wisconsin law does not allow life-sustaining treatment to be withdrawn (see, e.g., Edna MF; Montalvo).  In other words, the substitute...

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Labeled - Film on Supposedly "Lethal" Birth Disorders

This spring, the film "Labeled" was officially released.  "Labeled" exposes the shocking reality of how parents of some children diagnosed with genetic disorders are tragically being told their child’s condition is lethal and incompatible with life.  (For more on this from an academic perspective, see the work of Annie Janvier.)  Once labeled, children may have life sustaining food and medical care withheld or withdrawn, without the consent or knowledge of their parents.Labeled follows Hannah Allison and her family.  Talking...

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Terri's Life & Hope Physician & Attorney Network

Terri's Life & Hope Physician & Attorney Network is recruiting physicians, lawyers, and other professionals. Those registering for the Network may be asked to, among other things:Review medical records in selected cases to give professional opinion on need for and likely efficacy of life-preserving treatment, nutrition or hydration.Consider, when authorized, conducting an independent medical examination in order to give such an opinion.Accept...

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Rights of the Dying Child: Trieste Charter

In September, 2012, a group of professionals working with children affected by incurable illness launched a project, supported and promoted by the Maruzza Lefebvre D’Ovidio Foundation, to formulate a charter of rights for children approaching the end of their lives.This draft was more recently revised by a larger group of 50 experts representative of a range of professional, institutional, and social figures (doctors, nurses, psychologists, philosophers, ethicists, parents, and journalists) at a consensus meeting held in Trieste, Italy.The final...

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A Restatement of Health Care Law

David Orentlicher has just published "A Restatement of Health Care Law" in the Brooklyn Law Review. This is a great proposed project with which I would love to be involved.  A Restatement could clarify and guide legal doctrines like informed consent.  And it could "untangle" complicated doctrines like ERISA preemption.Orentlicher notes that a Restatement could "provide courts, legislators, practitioners, and scholars with a very helpful...

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Oklahoma Medical Treatment Laws Information Act: Futility Transparency

Last May, I wrote about a new Michigan law that would require hospitals to disclose their medical futility policies in writing, on request. As I have written, this law does not require anything more than is already required by the Patient Self Determination Act.  But lots of state law duties duplicate federal duties.  The rationale for the Michigan Medical Good Faith Provisions Act is that it would increase transparency in the...

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Senate Hearing on Advance Care Planning

This morning, the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging is holding a roundtable format hearing on "Continuing the Conversation: The Role of Health Care Providers in Advance Care Planning."ModeratorJennie Chin Hansen, RNChief Executive OfficerAmerican Geriatrics SocietyParticipantsPaul MalleyPresidentAging With DignityDaniel O’Brien, PhDSenior Vice President, Ethics, Discernment And Church RelationsAscension HealthRandall Krakauer, MDVice President,...

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Moments of Life: Made Possible by Hospice

In celebrating the 40th anniversary of hospice care in the United States, the National Hospice and PalliativeCare Organization is excited to introduce a new national campaign, “Moments of Life: Made Possible by Hospice,” that will show all Americans that hospice focuses on living and enables special moments and memories at the end of a life for patients and loved ones.A father’s final wedding dance with his daughter; a Veteran’s visit to...

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Sam Schmid - "Bounces Back" from the Dead

Two years ago, Sam Schmid's close encounter with death was called a "Christmas miracle." As he lay in a coma after sustaining massive brain injuries in a car crash, doctors were discussing organ donation with his parents and ready to take him off life support.But Schmid astounded those at his hospital bedside who thought he was brain dead, raising two fingers to signal he still had life left in him. Still, at the time, no one knew if the Tucson,...

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Texas Right to Life, Senator Deuell, & the Texas Advance Directive Act

In the past several legislative sessions, Texas State Senator Bob Deuell has tried to improve the procedural due process protections in the Texas Advance Directives Act.  Senator Deuell's bills would have given patients and families new safeguards and lengthened the time to find a new facility when treatment for an ailing patient ends.But Texas Right to Life has no interest in improving the fairness of the conflict resolution procedures. Instead, it wants to completely eliminate the ability of clinicians to refuse life-sustaining treatment...

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Symposium on VSED for Dementia

I have been regularly blogging recent VSED cases (like the ongoing Bentley case in BC).  And I recently updated my 2011 legal overview of VSED in the spring 2014 Journal of Clinical Ethics.This week, VSED got even more attention.  The May-June issue of the Hastings Center Report devotes several articles to VSED.Advance Directives, Dementia, and Withholding Food and Water by Mouth -- Paul T. Menzel and M. Colette Chandler-CramerToward a Humane Death with Dementia -- Rebecca DresserCASE STUDY: A Fading Decision...

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National Care of the Dying Audit for Hospitals, England: National Report

The Royal College of Physicians has just released a 115-page report:  National Care of the Dying Audit for Hospitals, England:  National Report.The report investigated 6,580 deaths in 149 hospitals during May last year. The report concludes that wide-scale improvements are needed to ensure that care and support for the dying is consistently good.  Key findings include:Fewer than 50% of NHS patients who were in their last hours or days...

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Patients’ Preferences Matter: Stop the Silent Misdiagnosis

I particularly enjoyed the following passages from a fantastic King's Fund report on informed consent::  Patients’ Preferences Matter:  Stop the Silent Misdiagnosis.  The report is not about end-of-life care specifically, but has particular application."The solution is as simple in principle as it is counter-intuitive: give patients what they would want were they fully informed. Health care may be the only industry in which...

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Unilateral Do-Not-Attempt Resuscitation Orders at the Massachusetts General Hospital

The American Thoracic Society International Conference begins this week in San Diego.  There are a number of sessions and posters related to end-of-life ethics.  This one seemed particularly interesting.Unilateral Do-Not-Attempt Resuscitation Orders In A Large Academic HospitalA. Courtwright, MD, PhDS. Brackett, RN, BS, CCRNE. Robinson, RN, PhDRATIONALE:Unilateral Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) orders are a specific type of medical futility decision...

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Medical Futility Blog Gets One Million Pageviews

I am pleased to report that the Google page-view counter for this blog just clicked over 600,000.  Plus, this blog's content is re-distributed on WestlawNext, WellSphere, and other publishing platforms.  So, I am estimating that total page-views have now reach one million. &nb...

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Council of Europe Launches Guide on Decision Making Process Regarding Medical Treatment in End-of-Life Situations

This week, the Council of Europe launched a guide on the decision making process relating to medical treatment in end-of-life situations. What rights for end of life patients? In which ethical and legal framework does the decision-making process lie? How and with whom are decisions made concerning medical treatment when it comes to implementing it or stopping it? This new guide aims to provide answers to these and many other questions.Advances...

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Gary Blick Video Supporting Aid in Dying

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UK Court of Appeal Hears Tracey Case on Unilateral DNAR

In January, I blogged that the UK Court of Appeal agreed to hear the case of Tracey v. Cambridge University Addenbrooke Hospital.  This week, the court (Judges Dyson, Longmore, Ryder) is hearing arguments in the case.The issue is not whether clinicians can "write" a DNAR order without patient or surrogate consent.  Rather, the issue is whether clinicians must at least "consult" with the patient or surrogate before writing a DNAR...

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Common Ground for Proponents & Opponents to Aid in Dying?

Syracuse disability rights activist and scholar Bill Peace has a new post despairing whether it will ever be possible to build a bridge between advocates and opponents to aid in dying.  He writes, "I think any sort of common ground will never be found."Bill correctly identifies me as an defender of patient choice and liberty.  Indeed, I have defended AID, VSED, and other means to hasten death, if that is what the patient really wants.  But I try to be circumspect.  Each week, I read and listen to right-to-life, disability,...

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Pure Physiological Futility (Medical Ineffectiveness)

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New York Medical Futility Bill Highlights Wide Variation in U.S. End-of-Life Decisions Laws

My latest post at the AJOB blog is available here: "New York Medical Futility Bill Highlights Wide Variation in U.S.End-of-Life Decisions Laws." &nb...

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Canadian Medical Association Forums on End-of-Life Care

This Wednesday, the Canadian Medical Association will host its 4th town-hall form on end-of-life care.  This broad stakeholder involvement is a great idea.    CMA President Louis Hugo Francescutti prudently observed that "CMA is not going to lead the way in proposing policy, because policy on end-of-life care is something all Canadians have to decide."This week's two-hour session in Regina will focus on three topics: advance care planning, palliative care and physician-assisted dying. The town hall will be moderated by journalists from...

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Ethical Issues in Geriatric Care

The May 2014 issue of the AMA's Virtual Mentor is devoted to Ethical Issues in Geriatric Care.Clinically, the long-awaited baby boom bulge—the “pig in the python”—presents little that is new to physicians; only that there are more of them and they’re living longer with the chronic conditions that killed earlier generations at younger ages. Psychosocially speaking, however, these former leaders of the “rights” movements of the ‘60s and ‘70s are actively engaged in their care, they challenge their physicians and the system, and some would rather...

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Health Law at AALS 2015

If you are a health law professor attending the January 2015 AALS Annual Meeting, then you are in luck.  There appears to be robust programming in the area of our teaching and scholarship.  While preliminary, the schedule now includes:SATURDAY, JANUARY 310:30-12:15Competition in Health Care(Section on Antitrust & Economic Regulation, co-sponsored by Section on Law, Medicine & Health Care)1:30-3:15Patient Dumping: An Exploration...

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New Jersey End-of-Life Planning Survey

This week, the Monmouth University Polling Institute and the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute released their third “Health Matters Poll,” a periodic survey of Garden State attitudes on health care related issues. The current survey, which examines planning for end of life care, found that most New Jerseyans have had some sort of discussion about their wishes for end of life medical treatment, but few have actually...

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