Medical Aid In Dying
"New legislation and court judgments are further expanding access to MAID, some bringing new and different twists."
Vermont Amends Patient Choice at End of Life Law to Improve Access
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.
Avoiding late-stage dementia with advance directive for stopping eating and drinking
Prof. Thaddeus Mason Pope explains the newly-effective Nevada advance directive that allows dementia patients to voluntarily stop eating and drinking (VSED) after loss of cognitive capacity, and suggests how it may be used in some other states.
American Academy of Neurology Drops Opposition to Medical Aid in Dying
Thaddeus Pope writes about the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) dropping its longtime opposition to legislation giving terminally ill patients the option of medical aid in dying (MAID). In addition, he identifies numerous local, state, regional, and national medical-related groups that have now taken a neutral position on MAID or endorsed its use.
Medical Aid in Dying: When Legal Safeguards Become Burdensome Obstacles
In 2017, the District of Columbia (DC) became the seventh jurisdiction in the United States to legalize medical aid in dying, which gives terminally ill patients the option of how and when they die. The new DC statute is nearly identical to earlier enacted medical aid in dying statutes in California, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington State. Only Montana legalized medical aid in dying through a court decision, but subsequently, proponents of the act have failed in every attempt to legalize medical aid in dying through constitutional or statutory litigation.