Category Archives: palliative care

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

assisted suicide, hospice, ira byock, Our News & Commentary Blog, palliative care

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

Concrete Change, Eleanor Smith, final exit network, Georgia, Georgia Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, hospice, Our News & Commentary Blog, palliative care

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 →

NY Times Quotes Diane Coleman – but without context

"end of life", advance directives, diane coleman, hospice, media coverage, media issues, Our News & Commentary Blog, palliative care

Today, the New York Times published a long story on hospice and palliative care, and how doctors struggle with balancing the transition from active treatment to palliative care in the final stages of terminal illnesses. Some of it is worked within the context of the current “debate” around advance directives in the health care reform … Continue reading NY Times Quotes Diane Coleman – but without context →

News on Minna Mettinen-Kekalainen: Home Care Resumed, But Problems Remain

als, aspergers, Canada, long term care, Our News & Commentary Blog, palliative care

Like many bloggers/advocates/activists, I have been awaiting word that Minna Mettinen-Kekalainen’s home care had actually resumed. The last news story about her situation was published when the first day of resumed care was still several days away. Northern Life.ca has an update on Minna, a mixed bag of good news and progress still to be … Continue reading News on Minna Mettinen-Kekalainen: Home Care Resumed, But Problems Remain →