Statement the Judicial Proceedings committee Re: Senate Bill 354 – “End-Of-Life Option Act” Tuesday, March 7, 2017 OPPOSE Good afternoon Chairman Zirkin and distinguished members of the Judicial Proceedings committee. My name is O. J. Brigance and I am submitting written testimony in opposition to Senate Bill 354, the End-Of-Life Option Act. I am compelled...
Read MoreWe’ve written before about how physician-assisted suicide actually plays out and how undignified it really is for patients. In that piece, we detail the typical prescription a patient receives to kill themselves – between 90-100 pills (9-10 grams) of a barbiturate called Seconal. For a drug that is normally prescribed in doses of 100 mg...
Read MoreThe fact that no major nationwide disability rights group supports physician-assisted suicide should be a clear sign that there are significant problems associated with the legislation that’s been filed in Maryland. In many cases, people with disabilities have faced systemic discrimination in the healthcare system, often with healthcare professionals and other caretakers who do not...
Read MoreAs the General Assembly again debates legislation (HB 370/SB 354) to legalize physician-assisted suicide, it’s crucial for legislators to understand exactly how “death with dignity” really happens. For most, it is not at all what they expect at first consideration. In fact, once they learn more about the process, it’s clear PAS is anything but...
Read MoreHere’s how to help right now Last week, legislation was filed in the Maryland General Assembly that seeks to legalize the practice of physician-assisted suicide. These bills – House Bill 370 and Senate Bill 354 – which are often referred to as “Death with Dignity” or “Aid in Dying” by its proponents are almost exactly...
Read MoreRecently, numerous accounts in the media and online have indicated that the American Medical Association (AMA) is taking steps toward changing their official policy position on physician-assisted suicide from opposed to neutral. Fortunately, this chatter is inaccurate. In fact, although the AMA is currently considering the policy landscape in the U.S. surrounding PAS, they have...
Read MoreOn the heels of Colorado voting to legalize physician-assisted suicide (PAS), advocates are looking for ways to make the deadly concoction patients take to end their lives cheaper. Right now, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, the drug company that manufactures one of the most popular drugs patients use is seizing the opportunity to make a profit by charging...
Read MoreLast week, Vox.com ran a very interesting piece about physician-assisted suicide titled “Everyone should have the right to assisted suicide — or no one should.” In it, a philosophy professor from Brown University explores the moral and logical arguments about so-called “death with dignity” laws in the U.S. Although she never takes a position on...
Read MoreIn an op-ed published in the U.S. News & World Report recently, Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie explores how physician-assisted suicide laws put Latinos disproportionally at-risk. As an example, Dr. Christie cites a recent example of a California woman who is denied life-saving treatment and instead is offered assisted suicide by her insurer. Dr. Pozo’s arguments...
Read MoreA recent op-ed in the LA Times may read like a strong argument in support of the new physician assisted suicide law in California, but as the title hints, this law does not provide patients with a terminal illness any dignity. And as the author points out, perhaps inadvertently, the real-life implementation of this law...
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