Considering Your Options When Lethal Injection Is Not Available

 I do encourage everyone to develop a vision of their death, knowledge of their illnesses, acceptance of the inevitable, an appreciation for palliative care, and an understanding of the end-of-life options available in their jurisdiction. 

Physician Sam Harrington offers his own ranking of end-of-life options that hasten death in order to reduce suffering from easiest to most difficult. Harrington lends a critical eye to physician-assisted suicide that is legal in Canada and extends opinionated consideration of the choices American citizens have at the end of their lives. Referring to the highly publicized story of John Shields, a terminally ill Canadian man who recently chose to die through means of lethal injection, Harrington addresses the reality that the majority of Americans do not have such an option. But, Harrington explains that not having this option may not be such a bad thing.

The medical aid in dying law, often referred to as Death with Dignity, is legal in 6 states: California, Montana, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Vermont and in the District of Columbia. Medical aid in dying is the prescription by a physician for a lethal dose of medication that absolutely must be self-administered. Harrington explains that these lethal doses of medication prescribed through the medical aid in dying law (which only applies to people deemed to be in their last 6 months of life) are not risk-proof themselves. Vomiting, difficulty swallowing, and paradoxical reactions are all in the realm of possibility. Medical aid in dying may not always be as clean and simple so it is important for advocates and those considering their options to remember other methods available to reduce suffering and hasten death at the end of life.

Harrington goes into some detail regarding withholding care; such as manual feedings, antibiotics administration, and ventilation. These must all be considered when creating an advanced directive because often those decisions otherwise fall on the shoulders of loved ones. However, VSED (Voluntarily Stopping Eating & Drinking) is one way of withholding care made as an alert, competent person. It is the choice to stop eating and drinking in order for the body to naturally, organically die. Harrington points out that VSED is an “actively passive step to hasten death that everyone should be aware of”. In contrast to medical aid in dying, Harrington says VSED  “is effective, fast enough to be tolerable, and slow enough to vanquish any familial concerns about an irretrievably impulsive decision sometimes associated with physician-assisted suicide.”

Harrington explores the nuances of the subject but ends by emphasizing what is most important: choice.

“I do not presume to tell you how each individual patient should parse his or her own decision. I do encourage everyone to develop a vision of their death, knowledge of their illnesses, acceptance of the inevitable, an appreciation for palliative care, and an understanding of the end-of-life options available in their jurisdiction. Then they can maximize control of their death.”

 

Interviewed on Podcast “Death Hangout”

Recently, I was interviewed by two wonderful men on “The Death Hangout.” This is a very creative podcast that interviews people about issues that surround death and dying. They told me they were reluctant to interview me at first because of the unusual nature of my topic – VSED (Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking).

Take 30 minutes and watch this interview. Because of their honesty and excellent questions, this turned out to be one of the best interviews that I’ve had. Clearly, the two men who interviewed me had a good time too!

I not only talk about the VSED experience with Alan. I talk about conscious dying, how Alan found peace and prepared to die. I talk about my own fear of death and where it came from and how I’ve overcome it. It is a life-giving interview!

This is a podcast that originates in Europe. During the interview, Olivier was in Paris; Keith was in Ireland, and I was in Bellingham, WA.

Enjoy this. Share it with others. Thank you!

Phyllis

Legality Surrounding the Choice to VSED

Death and dying feels like a messy matter at times. If we haven’t come to terms with our mortality, how can we even begin to think about and exercise our choices.

It is complicated and often intense to think ahead of time about how we want to die. Considering our choices requires deep introspection. For example, VSED is a complicated choice and it requires sufficient support. First the individual has to determine if it is right for him or her. Then loved ones have to support the individual’s decision. It takes time and effort to communicate with medical and legal people to ensure that everything will be carried out properly.

In this blog, I want to focus on the legal issues. I highly recommend that someone who is considering VSED consults with an elder law attorney. Do this well in advance. Not all elder law attorneys will be comfortable with or knowledgeable about VSED. We were fortunate to have a forward thinking elder law attorney. She knew much more about VSED than an estate planning attorney or a family law attorney.

The elder attorney will draw up documents to ensure that your wishes are followed and are within the realm of the law. In our case, my husband had his Health Directive that was filled out and updated as needed. Because he had Alzheimer’s and was still mentally competent, he filled out the Alzheimer’s Advance Mental Health Directive. This can be found on the End of Life Washington website. It is excellent, and it often requires the assistance of an elder law attorney.

My husband was certain that he wanted to avoid ever living in a dementia facility, but he only had so much control. If he landed in a dementia facility, however, we had already talked about our financial assets with our elder law attorney so that there would be money to take care of him and also money left for me. It can be very complicated. The Alzheimer’s Directive also covers decisions involving day to day choices about where someone would like to be treated and cared for. Different scenarios and options are covered in this fine Directive.

Here is a link to the Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Mental Health Advance Directive.

Many people ask me about the legality of VSED. Yes, it is a legal option in the United States. I strongly encourage you to look at the white paper written by Thaddeus Pope and Lindsey Anderson called “Voluntarily  Stopping Eating and Drinking: A Legal Treatment Option at the End of Life. It was this document that convinced my husband to VSED.

Another document that our elder law attorney drew up was a document to eliminate risk to the caregivers, the doctor and myself. I also filled out a similar document. Both were witnessed and notarized.

So, there is lots to think about. I encourage you to read my book, Choosing to Die. All the details are covered in the book. It is both a memoir and a guidebook.

Spiritual Beliefs are Important when Preparing for your Death

Many religions accept death as a part of life or a state of transition. Discussing death as a part of life, being more accepting and educated about end of life care is something thinking about long before you die.  Write all your needs in your Advance health directive and talk to your health providers about it. We can all live our lives to the fullest and not fear death. Death occurs to everyone. It is simply a part of life.

 

If you are interested in different religious ideas around death, this is a great resource. By expanding our thinking cross-culturally we can understand death in more than our own way. Education is a key part of the dying process. By thinking about what occurs after death can make death more approachable. Even if you are not religious assessing your values and how you want to leave your body can affect your end of life decisions.

Reading about beliefs and aspects of other spiritual practices can help you identify how you see death and want to make your directive for end of life.

http://lmrpcc.org.au/admin/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Customs-Beliefs-Death-Dying.pdf

Loddon Mallee: Regional Palliative Care Consortium

We’re Not Too Young

As newly weds it was important to have a discussion about what matters most at the end of life so we can make the right decisions for each other when the time comes

I hope that someday everyone fills out a health directive when they become an adult at 18. Our parents are legally responsible for us in the United States until then. At 18 ideally everyone should fill out a health directive. If you don’t do this and you are in an accident or get a terminal disease doctors and hospitals have a the legal right to make all decisions for you. Your health directive ensures that your loved ones will be able to represent you and your wishes. I filled out my first health directive when I was 40. I still didn’t believe I was going to die someday. I know It is challenging to think about a health directive when you think you are immortal. They vary from state to state, but what is important is what you write. Nevertheless, we are all going to die and we all want to have a good death. We are all familiar with death and through figuring out what what state we want to live into is something only you can decide. That is why preparing is important even when we are young and do not think about death.

A touching story of two Newlyweds 

Ethical Perspectives about VSED

Recently, I helped organize and speak at the first national conference on VSED. It was held at Seattle University October 14-15, 2016. About 225 people attended, mostly professionals. The conference was excellent.

If you go to http://phyllisshacter.com/the-story/1st-national-conference-vsed/ you can read the article about the conference. 

This article by Norman Cantor is worth reading about various ethical perspectives about VSED. It’s difficult for me personally to think that a court could uphold and go against someone end of life wishes. We have to be vigilant about our rights. This can be a slippery slope.

Honing the Emerging Right to Stop Eating and Drinking

Important End of Life Conversations

This is an all too human story. Having supported my mother and my husband through their end of life choices, I am grateful for the clarity of information that existed between them and me. They were open about their wishes. We had good communication. Many people don’t have these conversations because it creates discomfort for them. Usually, it’s the children who have conflicted issues about discussing the end of life. They don’t want to acknowledge their parents’ deaths.  Following that, they have to acknowledge their own death because it is something we all will eventually face. 

I remember how difficult it was for me to talk about these issues with my own mother. It took years before I got comfortable with it. The conversations made me feel very sad because I had to face that I would lose her someday. I loved her very much. Nevertheless, I learned so much about end of life issues from her courageous demonstration. She was a teacher to me. She certainly helped me pave the way for clear communication with my husband once he was diagnosed with both Alzheimer’s and laryngeal cancer. 

https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork/photos/a.102107073196735.4429.102099916530784/1458675897539839/?type=3&theater

 

Margot Bentley’s VSED Story

When I presented recently at the first national conference on VSED at Seattle University, Katherine Hammond followed me in the program. She was Margot Bentley’s daughter and Health Agent. She tearfully told a tragic story about how her mother’s Health Directive was not honored in a nursing home. When she could no longer feed herself, she wanted to be able to stop eating and drinking. The nursing home would not allow this to occur. With the Alzheimer’s getting progressively worse, her mother was kept alive for many years until her body turned rigid. There was a police order that prevented her daughter from taking her home where she would be able to not eat and drink and die peacefully. This is what her health directive requested. Sometimes we are grateful for a death. This is one of those times. Margot Bentley finally died at the nursing home in the Vancouver area in Canada. In order to prevent pain from her body becoming rigid, her doctor gave her additional morphine. Then she died.

From Vancouver Sun [PNG Merlin Archive]

http://vancouversun.com/health/seniors/margot-bentley-dies-a-finality-that-couldnt-come-too-soon-for-anguished-family

If you are interested in how the story has progressed here are the first two articles about the Margot Bentley case:

MEDICINE MATTERS: A family's anguish as nursing home continues feeding vegetative patient

MEDICINE MATTERS: CEO apologizes to family for breach of privacy by care aide in Margot Bentley case