A review of evidence supporting certain disability rights concerns about “end of life” advocacy

…upper spinal cord injury), or permanent and irreversible disease (i.e. end-stage musculoskeletal or pulmonary disease) that results in necessary life-sustaining medical treatment or ventilated support may be a suitable candidate for DCD. . . .” (UNOS Proposal to Update and Clarify Language in the DCD [Donation After Circulatory Death] Model Elements, March 2011) By the time the disability community saw this proposal, the comment period had expire…

Not Dead Yet’s Public Comment to U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services on Affordable Care Act’s Nondiscrimination Regulations

…eople with disabilities in the context of what is often referred to as “end-of-life” care. We have signed onto the excellent comments submitted by the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), Access Living, Coalition for Disability Health Equity, Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS), and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) in response to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights Request for Info…

John Kelly’s Testimony to the New Hampshire House Judiciary Committee In Opposition to HB 1325

…, allowing hospitals and doctors to end intensive procedures at various end-of-life stages.” He includes assisted suicide in the same context. It is not a coincidence that Compassion & Choices’ Barbara Coombs Lee was previously employed as an HMO executive. In Oregon, Barbara Wagner and Randy Stroup received letters from Oregon Medicaid denying coverage for prescribed chemotherapy. The letters noted, however, that the state would cover the $100 co…

Second Thoughts Massachusetts Letter to New Mexico Attorney General Gary King Urging Appeal of Assisted Suicide Case

…Choices, January 31, 2013. http://notdeadyet.org/2013/01/vermont-testimony-of-ira-byock-md-to-vermont-senate-committee-on-health-and-welfare-hearing-on-end-of-life-choices.html James Colbert et al., New England Journal of Medicine, “Physician-Assisted Suicide – Polling Results.” September 12, 2013 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMclde1310667 Jeanette Hall, letter to the Boston Globe, October 4, 2011. “She pushed for legal right to die, an…

John Kelly’s Testimony in Opposition to Massachusetts Assisted Suicide Bill H 1998

…recognition of this fact, when the New England Journal of Medicine held an online poll earlier this year, it’s invented case was a man with metastatic pancreatic cancer, whose pain was well-controlled. Two thirds of respondents opposed legalization. No, the suffering being talked about is emotional and social. As Dr. Angell wrote to the Herald last year, “dying sometimes involves great personal indignities, as well as mental distress from the real…