Aid in Dying

Do Doctors Die Like the Rest of Us?

Barbara Coombs Lee | Posted 03.25.2012

Read More: How Doctors Die, Dr. Linda Ganzini, Barbara Coombs Lee, Aid in Dying, Frontline, Dr. Ken Murray, Death & Dying, Healthy Living News

In November, Dr. Ken Murray published a blog called "How Doctors Die." It's been reverberating through the Web ever since, prompting a continuous stream of comments and inspiring others to offer their own essays and input.

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The Double Effect of Aid in Dying

Barbara Coombs Lee | Posted 12.13.2011

Read More: Health Living Health News, Physician Assisted Suicide, Relieving the Pain of Dying, Assistance in Dying, Death & Dying, Healthy Living Spirit, Aid in Dying, Healthy Living News

The doctrine of double effect enables medical providers of every faith, in every state, to treat end-of-life pain aggressively and to participate in treatment decisions that advance the time of death.

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Hawaii: The Latest State Where Doctors Can Provide Aid in Dying

Barbara Coombs Lee | Posted 12.06.2011

Read More: Hawaii, University of Hawaii Law School, Hawaii Public Health Association, Aid in Dying, Hawaii and Aid in Dying, Aid in Dying Hawaii, Hawaii Aid in Dying, Death & Dying, Healthy Living News

On October 5, in Hawaii, a panel of experts convened at the state capitol. Legal, medical, elder care, legislative and end-of-life authorities concluded Hawaii law permits physicians to provide aid in dying subject to professional best-practice standards.

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How Montana Is Revolutionizing The Movement For End-Of-Life Choice

Barbara Coombs Lee | Posted 11.15.2011

Read More: Montana Supreme Court, Aid in Dying, Death With Dignity, New Jersey Supreme Court, Healthy Living Health News, Aid in Dying Montana, Death & Dying, Healthy Living Mind, Aid in Dying Legislature, Healthy Living News

The Montana experience is ongoing, with aid in dying governed by standards of practice and the same regulatory procedures as all medical care. Its impact will likely reach across our nation.

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Catholic Political Operatives Follow the Bishops

Barbara Coombs Lee | Posted 08.23.2011

Read More: Bill Donohue, Assisted Suicide, Mccarthy, Usccb, Bishops, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, Thomas Lynch, Patrick Reilly, John Hardt, Lisa Fullam, Aid in Dying, Catholic Bishops, Politics News

As I wrote last week, Compassion & Choices welcomes the affirmation by the United States Council of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) that religious objec...

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Dogma vs. Dignity

Barbara Coombs Lee | Posted 08.17.2011

Read More: Gallup Poll, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Assisted Suicide, Usccb, Death With Dignity, Aid in Dying, Politics News

The choice of how to address suffering in a terminal illness must be the province of dying individuals themselves in consultation with their doctors, families, clergy and conscience.

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Signs of Hope in Western States

Barbara Coombs Lee | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Death With Dignity, Oregon, Barbara Coombs Lee, Montana, Aid in Dying, Washington, Vermont, End of Life Consultations, End of Life Care, Politics News

Historically, end-of-life choice has suffered at the hands of politicians. The people's simple yearning for freedom and control at the end of life has been no match for the heavy hand of politicians.

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Five States Give Patients Choice

Barbara Coombs Lee | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Right to Know, Washington, Oregon, Hospice, 5 States, Schwarzenegger, Aid in Dying, Death With Dignity, New York, Palliative Care Information Act, California, Healthy Living News

"There's nothing more we can do." For too long, for too many, medical professionals have used these words when they believe they cannot cure their pa...

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Everyday Elder Abuse

Barbara Coombs Lee | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Elder Abuse, William Bergman, Human Rights, Catholic Health Association, Oregon, European Charter of Patients' Rights, Washington State, Cancer, Medicare, European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, Aid in Dying, Margaret Furlong, Chemo, Torture, Intensive Care, Politics News

Tomorrow is World Elder Abuse Prevention Day. It's a day to appreciate that elders in our society endure abusive behavior every day and to consider ho...

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The Crime of Assisting a Suicide

Barbara Coombs Lee | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Nurse, Compassion & Choices, Barbara Coombs Lee, William Melchert-Dinkel, Assisted Suicide, Aid in Dying, Healthy Living News

Let's be clear. Our movement for end-of-life choice does not condone assisted suicide, and it never has.

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Hobson's Choice

Barbara Coombs Lee | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Connecticut, Compassion & Choices, Barbara Coombs Lee, Assisted Suicide, Aid in Dying, Vanacore, Politics News

Today family, friends and neighbors who loved Joan and Thomas Vanacore are grieving their tragic deaths and wondering how it might have been different...

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Ruth Proskauer Smith's Death Honors the Life she Led

Barbara Coombs Lee | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Montana, Advance Directives, Washington, Ruth Proskauer Smith, Gloria Steinem, Oregon, Compassion & Choices, Death, Choice, Aid in Dying, Death With Dignity, Politics News

Ruth Proskauer Smith, a friend and an activist for individual autonomy, died last night, closing her life in the manner she had wished for, planned fo...

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AMA Opposition and the Path Ahead

Barbara Coombs Lee | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Obama, American Medical Association, Barbara Coombs Lee, Assisted Suicide, Aid in Dying, Politics News

With so many doctors supporting it, who stands against empowering dying patients? Four hundred thirty physicians in the AMA House of Delegates who craft its policy.

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