Category Archives: palliative care

Vermont: Testimony of Ira Byock, MD to Vermont Senate Committee on Health and Welfare Hearing on End of Life Choices

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Anyone who has read this blog regularly knows that we hold Ira Byock in high regard.  That’s why we nominated him to the IOM’s Committee on Transforming End-of-Life-care. Earlier today, Ira Byock gave testimony to the Vermont Senate Committee on Health and Welfare’s Hearing on End of Life Choices (that means it’s a hearing on … Continue reading Vermont: Testimony of Ira Byock, MD to Vermont Senate Committee on Health and Welfare Hearing on End of Life Choices →

A “Must-Read” From Ezekiel Emanuel on Better “End of Life” Care

"end of life", bioethics, hospice, media, Our News & Commentary Blog, palliative care

Right-Wing politics often leave me at a loss for words.  The attacks aimed at Ezekiel Emanuel before and after the passage of what is commonly called “Obamacare” is one of the most bizarre examples.  At the time, Emanuel was Special Advisor for Health Policy to Peter Orszag, acting director of OMB. Emanuel struck me as … Continue reading A “Must-Read” From Ezekiel Emanuel on Better “End of Life” Care →

The Atlantic: “Physician-Assisted Suicide Is Not Progressive” by Ira Byock

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Ira Byock is a friend and someone whose work is widely respected.  Unlike many people writing on assisted suicide, Ira has spent decades working intimately with patients and their families, giving aid, comfort and treatment to all affected during the final chapter in that patient’s life. Bio blurb from The Nation:  Ira Byock is director of … Continue reading The Atlantic: “Physician-Assisted Suicide Is Not Progressive” by Ira Byock →

Bill Peace’s Hastings Center Article (on a disturbing hospital experience) and Three Commentaries Are All Online

"end of life", bioethics, devaluation, life-ending decisions, medical bigotry, medical discrimination, Our News & Commentary Blog, palliative care, rush to judgment, william peace

As of today, Bill Peace’s essay “Comfort Care as Denial of Personhood” is online – and accompanied by three commentaries available at the Hasting Center Bioethics Blog. Here’s what we wrote before about the experience at the center of Bill’s essay: Back in 2010, our friend, colleague and ally Bill Peace, experienced a long, expensive … Continue reading Bill Peace’s Hastings Center Article (on a disturbing hospital experience) and Three Commentaries Are All Online →

Georgia: Response Letters to op-ed by Final Exit Network (FEN) president Wendell Stephenson

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On January 7, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an op-ed by Wendell Stephenson, current president of the Final Exit Network (FEN).  “Ensuring death with dignity” is no longer freely available at the AJC site, but the same essay was published in December last year in the Metrowest Daily News and can still be read here. It’s … Continue reading Georgia: Response Letters to op-ed by Final Exit Network (FEN) president Wendell Stephenson →