“I Help People To Live Until That Very Last Moment”January 24, 2018 |
What makes a good death? This is just one of the questions Mosaic asked four end-of-life doulas, who have been trained to be a calm, compassionate presence for people who are dying, and their families
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How Does Assisting with Suicide Affect Physicians?January 8, 2018 |
When my mother was in her final months, suffering from a heart failure and other problems, she called me to her bedside with a pained expression. She took my hand and asked plaintively, “How do I get out of this mess?”
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Report on First Year of California’s Aid-in-Dying LawJanuary 4, 2018 |
A report on the experience of a large California healthcare system 1 year after California passed its aid-in-dying law shows that the worst fears regarding that legislation have not come to pass. The law, passed on June 9, 2016, allows physicians to prescribe lethal medication to terminally ill patients who wish to end their lives
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When a Grieving Mother Talks, ListenDecember 22, 2017 |
Jen Gunter writes, “At age 36, I joined the saddest sorority of mothers: those who gave birth but have no baby.”
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Two medics roll Mrs. M into the emergency department. Sweat drips from her forehead. Her chest heaves in and out as she tries to suck every last oxygen molecule from inside the oxygen mask. I introduce myself and she opens her eyes but her glassy stare lands beyond me. “She has metastatic breast cancer,” says one of the medics. “She’s in hospice. But her son wants everything done.”
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No, Most People Aren’t In Severe Pain When They DieDecember 12, 2017 |
Many people fear death partly because of the perception they might suffer increasing pain and other awful symptoms the nearer it gets. There’s often the belief palliative care may not alleviate such pain, leaving many people to die excruciating deaths
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The Challenges of Defining and Diagnosing Brain DeathNovember 15, 2017 |
A new Johns Hopkins support team helps clinicians and families understand a difficult diagnosis. The topic was the focus of a September Ethics for Lunch discussion in the Chevy Chase Bank Auditorium of The Johns Hopkins Hospital, hosted by the Berman Institute of Bioethics
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Should Dementia Patients Be Able To Decline Spoon-Feeding?November 3, 2017 |
People who abhor the thought of being kept alive with feeding tubes or other types of artificial nutrition and hydration have, for years, had a way out: They could officially document their wishes to halt such interventions using advance directives. But caregivers and courts have rarely honored patients’ wishes to refuse food and fluids offered by hand.
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