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?
A letter to the New York Times by FEN Board President Brian Ruder
A FEN Coordinator discusses how FEN works and explains who FEN can and cannot help.
A review of the new HBO documentary "Alternate Endings: Six New Ways to Die in America," 67 minutes in length, which began airing on August 14.
Two participants, one an exit guide and one a friend, look at the same voluntary exit and report their experiences, emotions.
Recently, Derek Humphry wrote about the words we use to discuss end-of-life concerns in the US, focusing on the appropriateness of the term "suicide." He did so, in part, to stimulate a discussion about the words we use. Like Humphry, I have no personal problem with the use of the term suicide–it accurately describes death by our own hand–but I resist it for several reasons.
End-of-life pain can be complex and not all such pain is easily or satisfactorily controlled. FEN member Craig Phillips shares his experiences with pain control while working as a volunteer in a hospice.
Many people with debilitating and irreversible health conditions do not have supportive family and friends. They include include people with metastatic cancer, irreversible neurological conditions, and multiple medical problems that have taken away any enjoyment and quality of life as determined by them. They no longer want to continue living because they know that their condition will only worsen, and for them it is already beyond bad. There is no realistic hope that their lives will improve. Most of the time, family members and friends are able to see the suffering in their loved one's life and understand a desire to end the suffering. But this is not always the case, as illustrated in this post.
Nothing is more personal than how we define a good death, yet our definition may not be obvious at first. Consideration of this question leads me to the idea that a good death is a dignified death; that is, the dying process is dignified. To maintain dignity in the dying process depends greatly on how our death comes. If it comes through violent means, dignity may not be found.
In his 2006 book about death with dignity and the right to die (The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia), Neil Gorsuch leveled several criticisms, by implication, against Oregon's Death With Dignity Act (DWDA), a law that deals not at all with assisted suicide or euthanasia. Under the Oregon law, a person desiring a hastened death in the face of terminal illness may take his own life with a lethal prescription drug or drugs, unassisted by another person. Nevertheless, Gorsuch argues that we can't determine the value of the DWDA for other jurisdictions without knowing how Oregon's law is working in practice, and he asserts that we don't have enough information about that.
