(Thaddeus Mason Pope is a foremost expert on medical law and clinical ethics. He focuses on patient rights and healthcare decision making, especially at the end of life. Previously both a Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Health Law, Policy, and Ethics at the University of Ottawa, and a visiting scholar at the Brocher Foundation in Switzerland, Pope is now a Professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. Ranked among the Top 20 most cited health law scholars in the United States, Professor Pope has over 250 publications in leading medical journals, bioethics journals, and law reviews. He maintains the Medical Futility Blog. Permission has been granted to repost this article, which first appeared here in April 2022.)
The Governor of Vermont has signed S.B. 74 into law, amending the Patient Choice at End of Life Law (aka Act 39) which authorizes Medical Aid in Dying.
When the PCEOL was enacted in 2013, it incorporated the traditional Oregon safeguards. But over the past ten years, experience demonstrated that feared problems have not occurred. The law has been working as expected and there have been no founded reports of abuse. S.B.74 maintains strong safeguards, while addressing four unnecessary and burdensome hurdles for patients.
CHANGE ONE removes the requirement that a request for a prescription be made in person, allowing requests to be made via telemedicine. This requirement has been burdensome to sick people for whom it’s difficult to go physically to a doctor’s office. Vermont is the only state where physical visits are required for MAID. And Vermont already allows the use of telemedicine based on medical judgment in other areas of medical practice.
CHANGE TWO removes the requirement that the prescribing doctor conduct a physical exam when the doctor is able to make the necessary determinations through telemedicine and clinical review .
CHANGE THREE clarifies that acting in accordance with the law protects all parties (including pharmacists) from liability. The original law explicitly provided immunity only for doctors.
CHANGE FOUR keeps the mandated 15 day waiting period but removes an additional 48-hour waiting period after the second oral request before a prescription can be written.
Thanks to Dr. Pope for vigilantly monitoring the Medical Aid in Dying laws and reporting changes and trends. The modifications of the Vermont law may seem modest. But they, like the recent legal challenge to residency requirement of the Oregon law, give better access to a “Good Death” for more people facing suffering at the end of their lives. I believe that’s good news.
Good for Vermont!!