Digital Commons Network^™

The End-Of-Life Option Most People Don’T Know About: Is It Legal?, Pamela Bucy Pierson

Idaho Law Review

This article is about an end-of-life option that many people have not heard of: Voluntary Stopping Eating and Drinking (VSED). With VSED, a person deliberately ceases intake of food and fluid to hasten their death. VSED is a peaceful, pain-free end-of-life option chosen by an increasing number of individuals in their last chapter of life who are suffering from chronic, incurable, progressively debilitating diseases. While there is considerable scholarship on the lawfulness of VSED, there is confusion in the existing literature on whether VSED is suicide, and on the related question whether individuals who provide comfort and care to VSED …

A Qualitative Study Of Key “Regulatory” Factors Influencing Patient Access To Medical Assistance In Dying In Canada, Ruthie Jeanneret, Eliana Close, Jocelyn Downie, Ben P. White

Dalhousie Law Journal

Medical assistance in dying (“MAiD”) was legalized federally in Canada after the landmark case, Carter v Canada (AG), 2015 SCC 5. Bill C-14 introduced a federal legislative framework for MAiD in 2016, which was amended by Bill C-7 in 2021. Some Bill C-7 amendments directly responded to the decision in Truchon c Canada (PG), 2019 QCCS 3792. Other amendments responded to several factors identified as barriers to patient access, including the requirement for two independent witnesses, the 10-day reflection period, and the requirement to provide final consent at the time of administration of MAiD medication. However, emerging literature identifies that …

Dying Well: Hospice Care As A Diminished Promise, Barry R. Furrow

Akron Law Review

No abstract provided.

Protecting Older Adults Who Are Incarcerated: Does The 8th Amendment Work?, Jalayne J. Arias

Health Matrix: The Journal of Law-Medicine

Older adults in prison and within other carceral systems (i.e. jails, parole) are uniquely at risk for elder mistreatment. Emerging research has begun to consider the experiences of older adults within carceral settings, including aging in prison, chronic conditions and medical care, compassionate release, and end-of-life care. This research exposes evidence that prisons and other carceral settings lack resources and services for older adults. Given increased vulnerability and a lack of protective resources, older adults experiencing incarceration may experience disproportional rates and consequences of elder mistreatment. A public health approach to develop tools and resources that would prevent, detect, and …

Minding The Maid Gap: Issues In Expansion Of Medical Aid In Dying To Sole Underlying Conditions Of Mental Illness In U.S. States, Alexandra Rubino

Student Works

No abstract provided.

The Ethics Of Governance Of Data Analytics In Healthcare, Andrew Harrington

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent literature and studies on data governance usually focus on data ethics and governance from a specific country or industry, which has been mostly business, without considering the larger global impact that is affected. Data is a worldwide asset; thus, its implications and considerations should be viewed as such. Hence, this dissertation attempts to incorporate this view by weaving together topics in healthcare, such as the blending of finance and delivery, data governance at the micro and macro levels, data analytics in healthcare, ethics of AI and information management, and technology’s impact on end-of-life practices. Through highlighting these areas of …

My Body, My Choice: Should Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legalized In The United States For Individuals With Chronic Mental Illness?, Angelika Anderson

Texas A&M Law Review

Many individuals with mental illness wish to die because the symptoms of their illness are unbearable. They shoot, suffocate, and poison themselves to make their pain go away. Because this is a statistical reality, a more certain and less violent means of death should be legalized. This Comment advocates for the legalization of physician-assisted suicide (“PAS”). As of 2022, nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized PAS for terminal illness, but this Comment argues that all fifty states should legalize PAS and not only for terminal illness, but for chronic mental illness as well. To do so, this …

No Leave To Grieve: How Misfit Frameworks And America's "Grief Tsunami" Require Better Bereavement Policy, Katherine S. Hanson

Marquette Benefits and Social Welfare Law Review

The COVID-19 pandemic fueled America’s recent death surge: 2021 has become the deadliest year on record in the United States. Scholars and commentators claim that the American workplace re-mains unprepared for the impending “grief tsunami” in the wake of such pervasive loss. Likewise, American law is ill-equipped for workplace grief. Bereavement, while medically “normal,” lacks a substantial foothold in workplace benefits and in the law. Currently, organizations bear the burden of developing their own policies—and where available, these policies remain insufficient to accommodate the myriad logistical and emotional complexities associated with the loss of a loved one. In the event …

Not Quite What The Doctor Ordered: The Third Circuit Pulls The Plug On Objective Falsity In United States Ex Rel. Druding V. Care Alternatives, Jenna L. Schaffer

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

End Of Life Uncertainty: Terminal Illness, Medicare Hospice Reimbursement, And The "Falsity" Of Physicians' Clinical Judgments, Jameson Steffel

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

Is There A “Mulatto Escape Hatch” Out Of Racism?: A Reflection On Multiracial Exceptionalsim During A Time Of #Blacklivesmatter, Tanya Katerí Hernández

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

(Excerpt)

To have a symposium organized to review the ideas in my book, Multiracials and Civil Rights: Mixed-Race Stories of Discrimination, is an honor, and the JCRED editors, along with their dynamic Faculty Advisors Elaine Chiu and Rosa Castello, have my gratitude for pulling it all together. Having each symposium contributor take the time to deeply engage the ideas in the book is an incredible gift, and exactly what every author dreams of—being read and provoking reflection. Without readers, ideas do not have an opportunity to matter. Thank you Taunya Lovell Banks, Nancy Chi Cantalupo, and Jasmine Mitchell, for …

Is There A "Mulatto Escape Hatch" Out Of Racism?: A Reflection On Multiracial Exceptionalism During A Time Of #Blacklivesmatter, Tanya K. Hernandez

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Faith And/In Medicine: Religious And Conscientious Objections To Maid, Daphne Gilbert

Dalhousie Law Journal

Across Canada, health care institutions that operate under the umbrella of religious traditions refuse to offer medical assistance in dying (MAiD) on the grounds that it violates their Charter-protected rights to freedom of religion and conscience. This article analyses the Supreme Court jurisprudence on section 2(a) and concludes that it should not extend to the protection of institutional rights. While the Court has not definitively pronounced a view on this matter, its jurisprudence suggests that any institutional right to freedom of religion would not extend to decisions on publicly-funded and legal health care. MAiD is a constitutionally-protected option for individuals …

A Qualitative Analysis Of End-Of-Life Healthcare In Tennessee: Politics, Principles, And Perceptions, Erin Mauck

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The unprecedented growth of the aging population in Tennessee is a significant demographic trend that highlights the necessity for healthcare policy that tackles end-of-life issues. This study examined the perceived quality of end-of-life healthcare in Tennessee, areas that are in need of improvement, policies that have the potential to influence improvements, and the role of politics in end-of-life healthcare policy. It also assessed the support for end-of-life healthcare policy that would advance quality of care and expand end-of-life choices for Tennesseans, while evaluating the policy-making process that legislators employ.

For this study, data were collected using semi-structured, in-depth interviews with …

Aid In Dying In Montana: Ten Years After State V. Baxter, Kathryn L. Tucker

Montana Law Review

No abstract provided.

End-Of-Life Decision Making: Policy And Statutory Progress (2011-2020), Jocelyn Downie, Mona Gupta, L. Wayne Sumner, Joshua Wales

Reports & Public Policy Documents

In 2009, the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) identified a series of urgent scientific and public policy questions. It established a series of five Expert Panels to study the issues and provide recommendations for next steps. It is now timely to revisit the findings of these Expert Panel Reports. What impact have they had? Have their recommendations been implemented? What are the next steps in terms of policy options?

To answer these questions, the RSC is establishing Policy Briefing Committees (PBC) to:

• describe the context, findings, and recommendations of the report;
• track policy developments in relation to the panel’s findings …

A History Of Pain: Ensuring The Utilization Of Palliative And Hospice Care For African-Americans, Melissa G. Walker

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Legislating The Right-To-Die With Dignity In A Confucian Society—Taiwan’S Patient Right To Autonomy Act, Chih-Hsiung Chen

UC Law SF International Law Review

In Confucian societies, people tend to avoid the discussion on death matters, let alone making advance directives to reject life-sustaining treatments at the end of life. Taiwan might be a pioneer in legislating the right-to-die with dignity among Confucian countries. As early as 2000, the Hospice Palliative Care Act was declared in Taiwan, which give terminally-ill patients the options to forgo life-sustaining treatments. Furthermore, in 2016, Taiwan passed the Patient Right to Autonomy Act to enhance patients’ choice at the end of life and expanded the coverage to certain types of nonterminally ill patients. On the other hand, end-of-life issues …

A Step Toward Normalizing End-Of-Life Care: Implications Of The Palliative Care And Hospice Education And Training Act (Pcheta), Robert Bulanda

Northern Illinois University Law Review

Despite their rapid development in recent decades, hospice and palliative care continue to face challenges to universal acceptance and access throughout American society, as the American population and medical professions are reluctant to move away from traditional preventative care throughout the death and dying process. The Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA) is a federal bill seeking to increase access to palliative and hospice care. This Note analyzes the history of the palliative and hospice care movement and the implications of the PCHETA, arguing that the bill acts as an important step toward normalizing hospice and palliative …

A Farewell To Falsity Shifting Standards In Medicare Fraud Enforcement, Isaac D. Buck

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Farewell To Falsity Shifting Standards In Medicare Fraud Enforcement, Isaac ("Zack") D. Buck

Scholarly Works

For the better part of a decade, Americans have had a front-row seat to a fervent and turbulent debate over the future of their health care system. The passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), the most comprehensive health reform effort since the mid-1960s, ushered in a new era in health law and policy, granting millions of Americans access to health care. After multiple legal challenges and congressional efforts that ultimately failed to slay the law, the ACA had become entrenched by the end of the Obama administration, even though pieces of the law had …

The Legal Status Of Deep And Continuous Palliative Sedation Without Artificial Nutrition And Hydration, Jocelyn Downie, Richard Liu

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Deep and continuous palliative sedation combined with the withholding or withdrawal of artificial nutrition and hydration (collectively termed “PSs̄ANH”) is an important aspect of high-quality end-of-life care. It is one means of alleviating suffering. Unfortunately, the legality of this practice has been under-researched and PSs̄ANH is not yet appropriately regulated in Canada. In this paper, we explore the legal status of PSs̄ANH where it (1) will not hasten death (Type 1 PSs̄ANH); (2) might, but is not certain to, hasten death (Type 2 PSs̄ANH); or (3) is certain to hasten death (Type 3 PSs̄ANH). It is clear that Type 1 …

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 …

Three Barriers To Vsed By Advance Directive: A Critical Assessment, Paul T. Menzel

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Alzheimer’S Disease And Written Directives To Withhold Oral Feedings: Clinical Challenges In New York State, Judith K. Schwarz

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Unbefriended And Unrepresented: Better Medical Decision Making For Incapacitated Patients Without Healthcare Surrogates, Thaddeus Mason Pope

Georgia State University Law Review

The purpose of this Article is to help improve the quality of healthcare decision making for the unbefriended. I hope that this comprehensive and systematic explanation of both the problem and the available solutions will empower both public and clinical policymakers to develop more informed and more circumspect policies and procedures

Unbefriended And Unrepresented: Better Medical Decision Making For Incapacitated Patients Without Healthcare Surrogates, Thaddeus Pope

Faculty Scholarship

How should we make medical decisions for incapacitated patients who have no available legally-authorized surrogate decision maker? Because these patients lack decision making capacity, they cannot authorize treatment themselves. Because they lack a surrogate, nobody else can authorize treatment either. Clinicians and researchers have referred to these individuals as “adult orphans” or as “unbefriended,” “isolated,” or “unrepresented” patients. Clinicians and researchers have also described them as “unimaginably helpless,” “highly vulnerable,” and as the “most vulnerable,” because “no one cares deeply if they live or die.”

The persistent challenges involved in obtaining consent for medical treatment on behalf of these individuals …

End The Patient’S Pain Instead Of The Patient: Focusing On Palliative Care Simultaneously With The Rise Of Legalized Physician-Assisted Suicide, Sheena Shah

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Cross-Cultural Dynamics In Palliative Care: The Emerging Canadian Scenario, Chidi Oguamanam

Dalhousie Law Journal

As modern technologies leverage medical sciences, life expectancy is on the rise in Canada, and indeed globally with a remarkable increase in the elderly population in need of health care. The same is true of the diversity of cultural groups who are now patrons and stakeholders in Canada's health care landscape. An emergent feature ofthis landscape is the complexity ofcontexts for negotiating and mediating medical care delivery at the end of life. This paper examines the gaps in regulatory and legal interventions as well as the gaps and opportunities to negotiate the transition to palliative care in cross-cultural contexts that …

Advance Directives: A Case Of Changing Social Norms And Their Legal Implications, Ira Bedzow

Journal of Aging, Longevity, Law, and Policy

No abstract provided.