Category Archives: Health care decision-making

Michael Hickson: Disability Organizations Challenge Medical Futility & Surrogate Decisions

ADAPT, bioethics, ethics committee, futile care, futility, Health care decision-making, healthcare rationing, life-ending decisions, life-sustaining treatment, medical discrimination, Michael Hickson, national council on independent living, Our News & Commentary Blog, surrogate decision making, Surrogate Decisions & Guardianship, treatment withdrawal, , , ,

On July 24th, ADAPT of Texas filed a complaint with the federal Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) concerning the death of Michael Hickson, a Black Disabled man, at St. David’s South Austin Medical Center. The complaint called for . . . “. . . an investigation of St David’s … Continue reading Michael Hickson: Disability Organizations Challenge Medical Futility & Surrogate Decisions →

Update: Minnesota Hospital Agrees to Continue Oxygen for Catie

futile care, futility, Health care decision-making, life-sustaining treatment, Minnesota, Our News & Commentary Blog, treatment withdrawal, , ,

Good news! Following intervention by attorneys, the Minnesota hospital that we previously reported had planned to stop providing oxygen to a woman with lung cancer decided to follow her wishes to continue treatment. This goes to show, as so many people with disabilities have experienced, that when there’s a power imbalance operating against you, get legal/advocate … Continue reading Update: Minnesota Hospital Agrees to Continue Oxygen for Catie →

What Can We Do When A Hospital Plans To Involuntarily Withdraw Life Support?

euthanasia, futility, Health care decision-making, life-sustaining treatment, Our News & Commentary Blog, passive euthanasia, treatment withdrawal, , ,

Friday night, I got a phone call from a woman who said that a Minnesota hospital had stated its plan for Monday at 1:00 pm to discontinue providing oxygen to her friend, Catie, a woman with lung cancer who stated that she wants to live and keep getting oxygen. NDY sometimes gets calls like this … Continue reading What Can We Do When A Hospital Plans To Involuntarily Withdraw Life Support? →

Sarah Cavar: ASAN’s Invitational Summit on Supported Decision-Making

ASAN, Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, Health care decision-making, long term services and supports, Our News & Commentary Blog, Sarah Cavar, supported decision making, Surrogate Decisions & Guardianship, ,

A Summary of ASAN’s Invitational Summit on Supported Decision-Making and Transition to the Community: Conclusions and Recommendations. Introduction: The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) recently released a document stating the conclusions from their “Invitational Summit on Supported Decision-Making and Transition to the Community”. This was a summit that included allies and self-advocates to disability justice, and … Continue reading Sarah Cavar: ASAN’s Invitational Summit on Supported Decision-Making →

Supplementing Your Advance Directive With A Video

"end of life", advance directives, Dr. Ferdinando Mirarchi, Health care decision-making, life-sustaining treatment, Live On!, Our News & Commentary Blog, POLST,

Kaiser Health News recently carried an article encouraging people to create videos to help explain what’s in their advance directives, which are often overly complex legal boilerplate or overly simplistic checkbox forms. One thing I like about the article, Straight From The Patient’s Mouth: Videos Can Clearly State Your End-Of-Life Wishes, is the discussion of … Continue reading Supplementing Your Advance Directive With A Video →