advance directives – The Good Death Society Blog

June 28, 2020June 28, 2020

When safeguards become roadblocks, Part 1

In the nine states/jurisdictions in which medical assistance in dying (MAID) is allowed through legislation or referendum, the insistence on extensive safeguards has served less to protect vulnerable individuals than to limit access to MAID. (Continue reading ...)

June 21, 2020

Hand feeding of dementia patients is medical care

Most dementia directives call for voluntarily stopping eating and drinking (VSED) at a prescribed point late in the progression of dementia. In most cases, this requires eliminating hand feeding based on the proposition that hand feeding is a medical treatment or medical care. (Continue reading ...)

June 14, 2020

Discontinuing all life-sustaining care

A 30-year old Florida Supreme Court decision may provide support for the use of a dementia directive that provides for voluntarily stopping eating and drinking (VSED). (Continue reading ...)

June 7, 2020

Comparing dementia advance directives–Part 3

This post, Part 3 of a series on dementias directives, discusses the supplemental advance directive for dementia offered by Final Exit Network (FEN) for those people who do NOT want to live into the later stages of dementia. The FEN dementia directive was drafted by FEN's legal counsel, Robert Rivas. (Continue reading ...)

May 31, 2020

Comparing dementia advance directives–Part 2

Part 1 of this multi-part analysis identifies eight Dementia Directives by authorship and discusses overall characteristics of each. This second part analyses the approaches to drafting such directives to help readers think about the elements of each. (Continue reading ...)

May 24, 2020

Comparing dementia advance directives–Part 1

This post begins a multi-part series about dementia directives, analyzing their provisions and their purposes. (Continue reading ...)

May 10, 2020

“Why I hope to die at 75”

Ezekiel J. Emanuel, distinguished oncologist and bioethicist, a vice provost at the University of Pennsylvania, chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, an author and editor in the health care field, wants to die at age 75. Why would he make such a decision in what many would see as the prime of his life? (Continue reading ...)

April 19, 2020April 19, 2020

The healthcare surrogate’s role in the time of Covid-19

Healthcare surrogates are always important, but their role has become more difficult during the Covid-19 pandemic. Read about what can be done in this situation. (Continue reading ...)

April 15, 2020April 15, 2020

Difficult conversations in uncertain times: Advance health-care decisions are important

“National Healthcare Decisions Day” is Thursday, April 16, a day meant to encourage Americans to think about Advance Care Planning. Making plans for the possibility of a serious and even life-threatening illness is now a difficult reality in uncertain times. (Continue reading ...)

March 29, 2020March 16, 2022

Living in the high-risk category in the time of COVID-19

We are all in the high-risk category for death because all living things die. However, each of us hopes to live a long, productive (however defined), satisfying life in the meantime. Covid-19 is causing many of us to reassess how long we may have left. (Continue reading ...)

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