Wednesday, December 19, 2018

US Euthanasia Bill Dead For Now

Margaret Dore &
Dawn Eskew
This year, the US Congress considered the "Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act," bills H.R. 1676 and S. 693. The Act seeks to provide financial support for palliative care and hospice education centers, including direct patient care.

The Act was viewed as noncontroversial. Indeed, H.R. 1676 passed the House on a voice vote without opposition.

There is, however, a catch.

This is because US euthanasia advocates are currently promoting "medical aid in dying" (euthanasia) as "palliative care."[1] There is a similar situation in Canada, where "lobbies are trying to influence the government to include so-called Medical Aid in Dying ... in palliative care."[2]

Monday, November 19, 2018

Linda Isner: Vote "No" on HR 1676, the Palliative Care and Hospice Training and Education Act

My husband Alan Isner was overdosed on Ativan Morphine and Haldol in a hospice and died when all he needed was anxiety medication. He was not suffering from pain or agitation but was given high doses of these drugs and the medical examiner's report revealed enough Morphine to kill several people. 

Friday, November 16, 2018

Proposed Federal Palliative Care Act Is a Springing Euthanasia Bill

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

In 2012, an article in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that many doctors object to physician-assisted suicide.[1] The article's authors, Dr. Lisa Lehmann and Julian Prokopetz, argued back that assisted deaths need not be physician-assisted.[2] They said that a central government mechanism should provide the assistance instead:

Sunday, October 21, 2018

Press Release: "Proposed Federal Hospice Act Must Be Defeated to 'Stop the Waste, Bleeding and Heartache'"

https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/465588180/proposed-federal-hospice-act-must-be-defeated-to-stop-the-waste-bleeding-and-heartache

Washington DC

Dore: "Existing federal hospice programs, such as the Medicare hospice benefit, are plagued by fraud, poor quality care, rampant abuse, arguably murder, and a gross waste of taxpayer dollars. Enacting another federal hospice program, when existing programs are far from being under control, makes no sense and will only cause more of the same."

Contact: Margaret Dore, Esq.

(206)-697-1217

Friday, October 19, 2018

Memo to the U.S. Senate HELP Committee: Vote No on the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (S. 693)

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

For a summary sheet including a similar House bill (H.R. 1676), click here. For a pdf version of this memo, click here.

I.  INTRODUCTION

I am an elder law attorney and president of Choice is an Illusion, a nonprofit corporation opposed to assisted suicide and euthanasia.[1] Formed in 2010, Choice is an Illusion fights against assisted suicide and euthanasia throughout the U.S. and in other countries.[2] We also fight against hospice and palliative care abuse.

S. 693, the Palliative Care and Hospice Education & Training Act," amends the existing Public Health Service Act to require financial support for “Palliative Care and Hospice Education Centers.”[3] This is a new program, which will include direct patient care.[4]

Existing federal palliative care programs, such as the Medicare hospice benefit, are plagued by fraud, poor quality care and a gross waste of taxpayer money.[5] S. 693 must be rejected unless problems with existing programs are resolved; Congress must not throw good money after bad. The bill must also be rejected for the reasons set forth below. 

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in the Medicare Hospice Program Is ‘Repellent’

Joanne Chiedi
By Joanne M. Chiedi *

To view original article, click here.

Like many Americans, I have a story about hospice care for a loved one. When my father was dying from complications of dementia and diabetes, hospice caregivers sat with him, provided pain relief, and helped him be comfortable. They also gave my mother peace of mind that her beloved husband was receiving kind attention in his final weeks. To this day, she refers to those hospice workers as angels.

Sadly, not every family’s story is a positive one.

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Washington Post Puts the Spotlight on Hospice/Palliative Care Abuse

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA
Choice is an Illusion, President

Below and finally, a comprehensive article in a major paper describing what a lot of us know already, that non-consenting, non-dying people are being killed with morphine and other drugs under the guise of hospice/palliative care.  The article, excerpted below from the Washington Post, describes cases in the US. There are similar cases in Canada and the UK (e.g, the former "Liverpool Pathway").