In a recent commentary, physician Alan Astrow  expressed skepticism about the legalization of medical aid in dying.  He cited the subjectivity of determining whose suffering qualifies for medical assistance and...

Network news correspondent and author Betty Rollin died in November at age 87. Surprisingly, there has been little public comment upon how her life ended. Rollin died in Switzerland at Pegasos, a voluntary assisted dying service. The circumstances of her death underscore the confusion over terminology and the uneasiness some feel regarding efforts to legalize assisted dying in New York State and elsewhere in our country.

What is at stake in calling extreme, end-stage anorexia nervosa a terminal condition? It may be thought to have implications for end-of-life decisions. I will argue that this is a mistake, although one that needs explanation.

I’ll always feel like I missed an opportunity by sending his call to voicemail. I had no idea that this would be my last opportunity to speak with him.

Oregon, which legalized medical aid in dying (MAID) in 1997, has dropped the requirement that had limited MAID access to residents of the state. What are the ethical and social implications of this policy change?

An essay for Bioethics Forum earlier this month concludes that medical aid in dying is not a human right. But we should have a right to decide what suffering we are willing to endure and receive medical assistance necessary to avoid the suffering we want to avoid.

A New York Times special report on euthanasia of a Paralympics champion in Belgium was ethically problematic for several reasons.

The Kings County Medical Society in New York recently hosted a brunch with New York State legislators. One of the guests was Richard Gottfried, chair of the New York State Assembly Health Committee, who is cosponsoring A2694, a bill legalizing medical aid in dying (MAID). As a medical oncologist with 30 years’ experience treating seriously ill patients, I have concerns about it, and I expressed them to Gottfried.

Should an elderly person in decent health but "tired of life" be able to die with a physician's assistance? The Netherlands is grappling with this question.

It’s a little-known and rarely discussed fact of medical practice that doctors value the ability to love our patients. If the thought of doctors loving patients makes you queasy, be...

Last month, Hawaii became the seventh state, with the District of Columbia, to legalize physician-assisted suicide. Similar to some of the other state laws, Hawaii’s Our Care, Our Choice Act...

I have been opposed to physician-assisted death for well over 30 years. I need to go back to my early days with this issue to lay out some of my...

Little noticed in the United States but a big deal in France, President Emmanuel Macron announced in January that he is creating a bioethics commission to review the country’s policies...

“Death with dignity” for the past 40 years has meant, for many people, avoiding unwanted medical technology and dying in a hospital.  A “natural” death at home or in a...

Given the chance, would Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch vote to overturn Roe v Wade? Challenge state "death with dignity" laws?

Death is beginning to show its age, though I hesitate to even mention that possibility.  With an obviously big ego and its intimidating black cloak and scythe, it has always...

A new chapter in efforts to secure legal provisions for physician-assisted dying began last week when the California State Legislature voted to approve the End of Life Option Act. If Governor Jerry...

Having read with interest Josephine Johnston’s essay on the aid-in-dying case before a court in New Zealand, I’d like to elaborate on some salient points. I have been actively involved with...

Time is running out on fixing the way we die. As readers of this blog know, the courts first declared a right to refuse unwanted life-sustaining treatment in the 1976 Quinlan case....

Brittany Maynard, the courageous 29-year-old woman with terminal brain cancer, ended her life a month ago today. She and her husband had moved to Oregon so that Maynard could take advantage...

Recently, I spoke with a seasoned health care reporter who was interested in Alzheimer’s and biomarkers because of his own family’s history of this disease. He started by asking, “Why...

Armond and Dorothy Rudolph of New Mexico were evicted from their assisted living facility in January 2011, after administrators called the police and rescue workers and informed them the couple,...

Belgian twins, Eddie and Marc Verbessem, were euthanized by lethal injection at Brussels University Hospital in Jette in December. The Verbessem brothers, deaf since birth, were cobblers by trade who lived and...