As the Threat of Triage Grows, Disability Rights Advocacy Is Needed More Than Ever

April 6, 2020bioethics, COVID-19, death panels, healthcare rationing, HHS, medical discrimination, Our News & Commentary BlogCOVID-19, Dredf, healthcare rationingDiane Coleman

…n will not survive in the immediate term or the treatment is contra-indicated. Treatment allocation decisions may not be made based on misguided assumptions that people with disabilities experience a lower quality of life . . . . Every patient must be treated as an individual, not a diagnosis. This means that the mere fact that a patient may have a diagnosis of, for example, intellectual disability, autism, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, spina bifida,…

Texas: Supporters of Texas “Futile Care” Law Continue to Maintain the Status Quo, Preventing Change

May 10, 2011"end of life", bioethics, futility, Larry McAfee, life-ending decisions, medical discrimination, Our News & Commentary Blog, texas, Texas Alliance for Life, Texas Catholic ConferenceStephen Drake

…ing family-ordered care be given to all patients, Hughes said.(Emphasis added.) If the patient doesn’t have to have a “terminal condition” doesn’t that beg the question of just what the heck is meant by “end of life”? Does it mean one or more things to doctors and something entirely different to families? Does it mean that a person is dying? Does it mean the person’s life is being ended? Both? Either? As interesting as these aspects of the article…

Diane Coleman: What the COVID Crisis Tells Us About the Dangers of Assisted Suicide

February 2, 2021"death with dignity", ableism, access to health care, aid in dying, assisted suicide, better dead than disabled, bioethics, COVID-19, diane coleman, end-of-life options bills, health disparities, healthcare rationing, medical discrimination, national council on disability, Our News & Commentary Blogaid in dying, assisted suicide, COVID-19, Diane Coleman, end of life options, healthcare disparities, healthcare rationing, medical discriminationDiane Coleman

…entional homicide. The pandemic has demonstrated that such trust is misplaced. Media Coverage of Discriminatory Denial of COVID Treatment A recent article in The Hill (Is Oregon’s physician-assisted suicide law affecting disabled COVID-19 patients?,12/25/2020) considered the possibility of a link between “Oregon’s decades-old physician-assisted suicide (PAS) law and recent efforts to deny life-saving care to COVID-19 patients with disabilities.” N…

Diane Coleman’s Plenary Remarks at Adv. Care Planning and ‘End of Life’ Conference on May 31

June 2, 2012Our News & Commentary BlogStephen Drake

…She’s just like Christopher Reeve, she will need help with everything, . . ..’ Then they’d work on me. . . ‘Are you sure this is something you can live with? Do you want to spend the rest of your life on a ventilator?’” When she returned a year later, with a power chair like mine and no ventilator, the doctors’ “jaws dropped to the floor and their eyes began to fill with tears.” Their reaction suggests that the doctors always meant well and though…

Second Thoughts Connecticut Negotiates POLST/MOLST Legislation With Consumer Protections We Can Live With

April 16, 2014advance directives, Cathy Ludlum, Connecticut, disability activists, Jason Manne, legislation, life-sustaining treatment, MOLST, National Healthcare Decisions Day, Our News & Commentary Blog, POLST, Second Thoughts ConnecticutMOLST, National Healthcare Decisions Day, POLST, Second Thoughts ConnecticutDiane Coleman

…itive bullet points about why you should “Create Your Advance Care Plan,” e.g. “Gives you and your loved ones peace of mind.” Then the CDC says: A Lack of Planning Has Economic Consequences Unnecessary medical expenses for treatment, hospital stays, and nursing homes. So advance care planning avoids “unnecessary medical expenses.” Presumably, that would be because your advance care plan would tell medical providers not to provide some treatments….