Should Patients Diagnosed With Alzheimer ’s Or Dementia Be Able To Choose Assisted Suicide?

I was on KPCC (NPR) in Los Angeles, yesterday, to address the question "Should Patients Diagnosed With Alzheimer’s Or Dementia Be Able To Choose Assisted Suicide?" A recent op-ed in the L.A. Times titled, “My friend has dementia and wants to end her life. California’s assisted-suicide law excludes her,” shines a light on the complexities of expanding the state’s law beyond patients with a cancer diagnosis or terminal illness. The law, passed in 2015 and modeled after a 1997 Oregon statute, allows physicians to give lethal drugs to mentally competent adults when they’re faced with a terminal illness and are expected to die within six months. Even as the law stands currently, medical experts and others are divided over the issue. And some worry expanding the law to those with memory deteriorating illnesses could put those patients at risk of increased pressure.
Source: blog.bioethics.net - Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Tags: Health Care syndicated Source Type: blogs