Not Dead Yet CEO Addresses International Advance Care Planning and “End of Life” Conference Thursday, May 31 in Chicago

June 1, 2012Our News & Commentary BlogStephen Drake

…s some significant problems with the way these issues play out in the real world. Too many people with disabilities have narrowly escaped pressures to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining medical treatment that they need to survive.” The Conference website notes that “the success of our previous conferences in Australia and the UK is reflective of the increasing importance that the international healthcare sector is placing on this pertinent area…

RELEASE: NDY CEO Diane Coleman Addresses Adv. Care Planning and ‘End of Life’ Conference May 31 in Chicago

May 31, 2012"end of life", ACPEL, advance directives, conferences, diane coleman, Our News & Commentary Blog, passive euthanasiaStephen Drake

Prize Given to Oregon Documentary on Assisted Suicide Tells Us More About the Judges Than the Film

February 2, 2011assisted suicide, documentary, Oregon, Our News & Commentary Blog, SundanceStephen Drake

…t prestigious awards that can be won by a non-fiction film anywhere in the world. Director Peter D. Richardson, an Oregon native whose debut feature, “Clear Cut: The Story of Philomath, Oregon,” played to acclaim at Sundance in 2006, stood atop a field of 16 competing documentaries that were selected from a field of 841 submissions. I’m not exactly surprised that this film received top honors. The memory of the 2005 “Kill the Cripple” night at the…

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

January 31, 2013"end of life", end-of-life care, ira byock, legislation, Our News & Commentary Blog, palliative care, vermontStephen Drake

…rams are also challenged by their small sizes and geography, including our rural roads, northern weather and long distances between patients. Hospices in rural communities often have difficulty incorporating the rapid advances in the field of hospice and palliative care. As a practicing physician, I often encounter hospice programs in our region which cannot accept patients whose treatment plans include medically administered nutritional support,…

Milwaukee Magazine: NDY featured in profile of elderly couple who died through a suspected suicide pact

February 23, 2011assisted suicide, final exit network, Homicide / 'Mercy Killing', media coverage, Our News & Commentary BlogStephen Drake

…l in Montana in 2009. The issue is hotly contested. On one end of the spectrum, the Final Exit Network argues the Oregon and Washington laws are inadequate because only those who are terminally ill are allowed to receive lethal drugs. The 3,000-member group, an outgrowth of the Hemlock Society, believes people who are not terminal should also be permitted to end their lives. “There are many illnesses, awful illnesses, with no time limit,” says Jer…