| This Sunday, Thaddeus Pope, a member of CLI’s Advisory Board, is hosting a free webinar, “Use Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) to Avoid Late-Stage Dementia.” The webinar builds on several recent articles in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society and another forthcoming in the next Journal of Aid in Dying Medicine. Date: Sunday, December 8, 2024 Time: 1:30pm – 3:00 Pacific Time Flyer: Learn More Many Americans want to avoid living into late-stage dementia. Their available end-of-life options include: voluntarily stopping eating and drinking (VSED), VSED by advance directive, using inert gas, and medical aid in dying in Switzerland. But commentators and advocates have long dismissed medical aid in dying as an available option within the United States. After all, persons with dementia as their sole underlying illness cannot satisfy eligibility requirements in the law. They lack a 6-month prognosis when they still retain decision-making capacity. And they lack capacity when they have a 6-month prognosis. Someday, these eligibility rules will change through bills like California S.B.1196. But even in the meantime, patients with dementia can use medical aid in dying. Some already have. If the patient begins VSED while they still have capacity, clinicians can certify the patient as terminally ill within 24-48 hours. The patient can then switch from VSED to MAiD. |
New York