Posts Tagged ‘end-of-life choice’

Nov 16, 2012Advance Care Planning Affects the Smallest and Biggest Decisions

by Mary F. Mulcahy
Huffington Post
November 14, 2012

Jane has voted in every election since she was 18. Now 33, she’s disappointed that she missed heading to the polls for the first time last week. But Jane has a lot of things to be disappointed about. She knows she is going to die soon. She knows that she will not survive long enough to see the benefits or consequences of her vote. So in the company of less than 60 percent of age-eligible voters in America who exercise their right, why did Jane want to cast her ballot? She votes to fulfill her civic duty. She votes because she believes her vote makes a difference. She votes to impact her daughter’s life. She votes to maintain some normalcy in her own life.

Jane was diagnosed with liver cancer at the age of 31 — a rare occurrence in someone so young and with no underlying disease. She had surgery, but her cancer returned. Since then, she has undergone other operations and has pursued standard and experimental therapies. She has exhausted every medical option available, and now Jane has changed her focus toward creating memories and a secure life for her 1-year-old daughter.

When her cancer returned, Jane and I had a difficult discussion about her future through the process of advance care planning. We identified personal goals and values that defined her own acceptable quality of life. We identified the characteristics and features that define her self-worth. Jane is a single mother, a teacher, a daughter, a sister, a member of her community.

As a single mother, Jane recognized that her daughter’s well-being was to be the focus of what life she has left. Certainly, she dreams of watching her daughter grow up, attending her graduation, and seeing her grow into an independent woman. Despite Jane’s own young age, she is able to realize that death is inevitable, and she has taken steps to control what she can. More

Nov 16, 2012Dignity and End-of-Life Care

Winston-Salem Chronicle
November 15, 2012

Consider this situation: you are driving home in a rain storm; you lose control of your car and hit a tree. You are taken to the hospital and need emergency medical attention. After the surgery, they determine that there is no hope of recovery, and you can only be kept alive by machines. What happens to you now? Would you choose to be kept alive artificially, or would you prefer to die with dignity? Unless you make your wishes known beforehand, you will not have a say. Your family will decide your fate without knowing what you wanted done.

Unfortunately in our society today, very little planning is done for the certainty of death. In the absence of documents stating someone’s preference regarding end-of-life issues, the person is vulnerable to the will of the physician, family, friends or other acquaintances. Alarmingly, only 11 percent of African Americans express their wishes regarding end-of-life care, compared to 38 percent of whites. More

Nov 13, 2012The Elder Law Minute: Do I Have the Right to Die?

by Ron Fatoullah
The Queens Courier
November 10, 2012

On October 5, 2012, a New York Appeals Court ruled in support of SungEun Grace Lee (Grace), a 28 year old banker who wanted to be taken off life support and allowed to die. Grace, who has terminal brain cancer, is paralyzed from the neck down and is being kept alive by artificial means. Her family disagreed with her decision and petitioned for guardianship to make health care decisions on her behalf. They argued that she was incapacitated due to her medicated state. The issue of an individual’s right to die is complex, to say the least. While the law does not permit assisted suicide, a patient always has the right to refuse medical treatment. This may include the refusal of life-sustaining treatment which could lead to death. Proper planning and possessing the necessary legal documents can help to enforce our right to refuse medical treatment. In addition, having the proper legal documents can help avoid or minimize conflict between loved ones when the difficult decision pertaining to “pulling the plug” arises.

Health care decisions, including decisions regarding life-sustaining treatments, are made by the individual patient. The issue presented in the case of Grace (and the famous Terri Schiavo right-to-die case), is one in which the capacity of the patient to make such decisions is questionable. In New York State, once a person is deemed incapable of making health care decisions, these decisions can be made by an appointed agent under a duly executed Health Care Proxy.

Planning for health care decision-making, in the event of incapacity, is not an easy process. It is often the most difficult process for our clients who are engaged in elder law planning. The issue requires individuals to delve into grim and morbid topics of illness and whether or not to “pull the plug” and in which scenarios to do so. Understandably, individuals often avoid signing a Health Care Proxy or sign a Health Care Proxy without having an informed discussion with their appointed agent. Having a Health Care Proxy allows one to choose the person he/she trusts to speak on his/her behalf and ensure that one’s rights and wishes are upheld. The discussion about one’s wishes regarding health care decisions is as important as naming the person to make these decisions. Again, the discussion ensures that decisions are made based on the individual’s expressed wishes. It avoids or minimizes conflict that can lead to litigation as in the cases of Grace and Schiavo. It also lessens any guilt on the part of the agent who may have to make the decision about whether or not to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment. Most importantly, the law requires clear and convincing evidence of an individual’s wishes before an agent can have the authority to withdraw or refuse life sustaining treatment. Therefore, having a serious and in-depth discussion with the appointed agent and any successor agents is a vital part of the process of executing a Health Care Proxy. More

Nov 13, 2012Aid-in-Dying Supporters Vow to Help Hawaii’s Terminally Ill

by Lara Yamada
KITV News
November 12, 2012

“In the end of February, it was discovered I had kidney cancer,” said hospice care worker Dorothy Haden, who has stage four cancer.

“I tried to live my life with dignity, and I do want to end my life with dignity,” said former lawmaker Earnest Juggie Heen, who has liver and pancreatic cancer.

Both said they want to choose how and when they end their lives.

“It’s our position that aid in dying is legal and it can be incorporated into medical practice legitimately here in Hawaii,” said Barbara Coombs Lee, who is the president of Compassion & Choices, a national nonprofit organization that supports aid in dying. She returned to Hawaii in early November, one year after a small group of Hawaii doctors first prescribed life-ending medication to a terminally ill patient.

“Hawaii has a constellation of laws that have never really criminalized aid in dying,” she said.

She said in the past year, 31 people have inquired about aid in dying, seven qualified to receive medication, and four were actually prescribed it, but she said all four died of natural causes before taking that prescription.

“People just want the comfort. They just want peace of mind,” she told KITV4 reporter Lara Yamada. More

Nov 8, 2012Advance Healthcare Directives Can Save Money and Family Pain

by Jean Vaneps
Duluth News Tribune
November 8, 2012

How would you like to star in your own reality show?

In applying the concept of “reality” to healthcare costs, some stark truths need to be realized by all U.S. citizens to avoid an inevitable crash. The challenge to all of us as consumers is to honestly examine our health habits and to take personal responsibility in being part of the solution to our country’s healthcare crisis.

There is one thing all of us can do, and it’s painless, proactive and will not call for any diet plan, smoking-cessation plan or payment plan. It is taking the time to complete an Advance Healthcare Directive (or just Advance Directive). The potential healthcare cost savings are staggering, but

70 percent of Americans do not have an Advance Directive, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

According to federal Medicare statistics, end-of-life care provided in 2010 accounted for more than 25 percent of total annual spending. Reasons for this include aggressive treatment that was not necessary or was not desired by the patient. Advanced medical technology has brought increases in life spans, despite chronic diseases. U.S. studies show that in areas where increased Advance Directives exist, health-care costs are reduced and patient satisfaction is high. More

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