In the News
Assisted suicide is not the answer as long as racial disparities in care, disability bias go on
“I want to be able to live. I want my conditions effectively treated, and I want effective pain relief. But while Martignetti may assume he will get good care, Black people like me tend to receive inferior care because of racial disparities in cardiac care, diabetes, and cancer. Black people like me
UK bureaucrats imposed DNR orders on care homes: report
Everyone has a right to equal quality of care. We should reject ableism in all its forms, but especially in these life and death situations. ‘Nursing homes in the UK were asked by government health managers and family doctors to place blanket “Do not resuscitate” (DNR) orders on all residents at the height of
Wife goes to court to stop husband from obtaining assisted suicide
For the first time since assisted death was legalized in Canada in 2016, a judge has ordered that a request for medical help in dying be put on hold. A Nova Scotia man wants to die because of a lung disease that he says has left him near the end of his life. Katherine,
Should Massachusetts adopt the proposed assisted suicide bill?
Read two views and vote AGAINST assisted suicide in the Boston Globe’s online poll… Dr. Laura A. Petrillo Palliative care physician at Massachusetts General Hospital; Newton resident Although the United States is in the throes of the greatest health and economic crisis of our era, a bill to legalize physician-assisted death
The optics are not good: lessons from euthanasia in Canada
A closer look at the official figures is is disturbing. Four years after euthanasia was legalised throughout Canada on 17 June 2016, the “first annual report” covering euthanasia deaths in 2019 was released in July 2020. As the dead bodies pile higher – 13,946 of them in three and a half years according to
Older, ill and disabled people deserve choice-promoting services, supports
I disagree with Joan Milnes’s call for passage of the assisted suicide bill now in the legislature (“Making a final choice about quality-of-life,” July 28). Her framing of it as an individual matter of “choice” about one’s so-called “quality-of-life” is prejudicial and dangerous. Milnes’s example is her cousin Tony with cystic fibrosis who, at his
State Covid triage policies prompt fear of discrimination
State policies for rationing health care during the coronavirus pandemic could allow doctors to cut off treatment for some of the sickest patients in hot zones and revive the specter of so-called death panels, say disabled rights groups who are rallying the Trump administration to intervene. The effort has recently gained urgency due to guidelines
One Man’s COVID-19 Death Raises The Worst Fears Of Many People With Disabilities
What Melissa Hickson says happened to her husband — and what the hospital says — are in conflict. But this much is for sure: Michael Hickson, a 46-year old quadriplegic who’d contracted COVID-19, died at St. David’s South Austin Medical Center in Austin, Texas, on June 11 after the hospital ended treatment for him
Arizona is discriminating against the vulnerable to ration care. It must stop.
Discrimination in health care has only been exacerbated by the coronavirus, as state after state has considered Crisis Standards of Care that violate the civil rights and erode the inherent human dignity of elders and people with disabilities. Battling these CSCs has been like a frantic game of whack-a-mole for advocates and the federal government
2020 Spring Newsletter
In this issue: -Why assisted suicide laws are inherently discriminatory against people with disabilities -Michael Hickson’s story of being denied care by his doctors based on subjective quality of life judgements -2020 Legislative State Status Update -New free downloadable California advance health care directive
How Deeply Ableist is Mainstream Media?
Assisted suicide laws set up an ableist two-tier system, where some people get suicide prevention and others, namely those with life-threatening disabilities, get suicide assistance. This results in death to the devalued group. Nothing could be more discriminatory. A man named Michael Hickson died on June 11, 2020. He was denied food an fluids for 6
When telemedicine can be dangerous — even deadly
The coronavirus pandemic has forced us to adapt the way we access health care, and telehealth is now widely used to overcome many hurdles related to receiving in-person attention. But there are some contexts in which relying on telemedicine can be dangerous — even deadly. Telemedicine should never be used in the context of assisted
Kristen Hanson & Ashton Ellis Discuss Advanced Healthcare Directives on Fight Back! Podcast
Kristen Hanson, Community Relations Advocate with the Patients Rights Action Fund, joins host Steve Poizner on the Fight Back! podcast to discuss advanced healthcare directives, an important legal document that addresses such end-of-life issues as “do not resuscitate” orders, treatment options, healthcare proxies, and more. Ashton Ellis, who is an attorney and expert on advanced
Mom lost daughter to suicide, fights for shutdown of assisted suicide website
Jackie Bieber has been living every mom’s worst nightmare since May of last year. “On May 22, 2019, my daughter took her life, with the help of an assisted suicide website,” Bieber said. Her daughter, Shawn, battled depression and anxiety for years. Shawn had been seeing a therapist and taking medicine. Jackie Bieber says, if
Black Disabled Man Dies From COVID-19 After Texas Hospital Refused to Treat Him
A Black disabled man died from COVID-19 in Austin, Texas, after doctors declined to provide hydration, nutrition and treatment based on a “quality of life” decision. Disability advocates highlighted that the discriminatory attitudes behind these “quality of life” decisions are rampant — and dangerous. Michael Hickson, who was married and had five children, was hospitalized
Quadriplegic man’s death from covid-19 spotlights questions of disability, race and family
It is tragic when patients are denied the treatment they need and deserve based on a subjective judgment about the quality of their life. Subjective, qualitative medical judgements can be harmful and even deadly. Too often we are seeing medical professionals substitute these subjective quality of life judgments for authentic treatment, especially as they navigate
Did Covid-19 open the door to euthanasia in Sweden?
Disturbing figures are coming from Sweden about the number of Covid-19 deaths amongst the elderly. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, half of the people who died in Sweden were residents of nursing homes… The health authorities have received many complaints about how elderly relatives were treated. A consistent theme is
The case against assisted suicide
The Massachusetts Joint Public Health Committee recently reported out of committee the controversial bill (S.2745) that would legalize assisted suicide. This puts bill S.2745 one step closer to a vote. Some residents have asked: Other states have passed it, why not us? It is important to note that, compared to the states that have
Kafka’s death bill advances
After at least five legislative sessions without advancing beyond the committee stage, bills that would open the door to doctors prescribing lethal doses for terminally ill patients got favorable reports from the Committee on Public Health… The bills (H 1926/S 1208) that would legalize medical aid in dying – sometimes referred to as doctor-assisted suicide
In opposition to physician assisted suicide
Recently the Joint Committee on Public Health approved a Physician Assisted Suicide bill (HB 1926 and SB 1208). If it reaches final approval, state sanctioned suicide will be the law of the land in Massachusetts. This is fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer. The American Medical Association has strongly rejected it. Physicians