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Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Health Law and Policy
Physicians' Attitudes, Concerns, And Procedural Understanding Of Medical Aid-In-Dying In Vermont, Teresa Ditommaso, Ari P. Kirshenbaum, Brendan Parent
Physicians' Attitudes, Concerns, And Procedural Understanding Of Medical Aid-In-Dying In Vermont, Teresa Ditommaso, Ari P. Kirshenbaum, Brendan Parent
Dalhousie Law Journal
The general purpose of the current study was to collect data on physicians' attitudes towards Act 39, the medical aid-in-dying act that was legislatively approved in 2013. Given the recent nature of the implementation of Act 39, this is the first such study to be conducted in the State of Vermont. The survey was quantitative in nature and addressed three distinct aspects of legalized prescribing of life-ending medication, these being physicians': (I) attitudes regarding ethics and legality of Act 39, (11)understandings of the policies and procedural requirements under the law, including their belief in legal immunity from penalty, and (I1) …
Questioning Polst: Practical And Religious Issues, Lloyd Steffen
Questioning Polst: Practical And Religious Issues, Lloyd Steffen
Dalhousie Law Journal
The Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) is a one-page transferrable medical chart insert designed to facilitate physician-patient communication about a patient's wishes at the end of life. The document as a chart addition is in widespread use today, but various criticisms have been leveled at POLST, the most serious being that POLST creates a slippery slope to illicit active euthanasia. This article examines the criticisms and finds that they fit two categories, the first being practical implementation problems. These problems are correctable given more and better training of medical care staff. The second and more serious ethical charge …
Removing Obstacles To A Peaceful Death, Kathy L. Cerminara, Barbara A. Noah
Removing Obstacles To A Peaceful Death, Kathy L. Cerminara, Barbara A. Noah
Faculty Scholarship
We all will die, but the American health care system often impedes a peaceful death. Instead of a quiet death at home surrounded by loved ones, many of us suffer through overutilization of sometimes-toxic therapeutic interventions long past the time when those interventions do more good than harm. This article proposes revisions to health professional training and payment policy to eliminate as much as possible physical and existential suffering while progressing through the terminal phase of illness. The solution lies in seamless progression from treatment with integrated palliative care to hospice before death, but provider attitudes and payor practices must …