UPDATES (Log of Site Additions):

2007-06-18:

• Newsweek:

• "Patients have a right to make their own medical decisions", by Jane Bryant Quinn (06/25/07).
• Excerpt: There's more reason than ever to leave written instructions about the medical care you want if you're unable to speak for yourself. In the wake of the Terri Schiavo case, in which her husband and parents fought over whether to remove her feeding tubes, right-to-life activists have been working on state legislatures. Their objective: requiring doctors and families to keep life support going for patients in a permanently comatose state. If that's not what you want, you need to make it clear.

• Foster's Online (Dover, NH):

• "Discussion on end-of-life care needed", by Gretyl Macalaster (06/18/07).
• Excerpt: "Dr. Ira Byock thinks the conversation about reclaiming the end of life and making it a comfortable, even enjoyable period is long overdue. Byock, Director of Palliative Medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, is trying to facilitate a national conversation on end of life issues, including the improvement of life for the frail and disabled, and their caregivers. His targets are presidential candidates." * * *
• Reference: Reclaiming the End of Life Initiative.

• Spirit India:

• "New guidelines for communicating end-of-life issues in Australia" (06/18/07).
• Excerpts: Australian health practitioners now have new guidelines to help them discuss end-of-life issues with palliative care patients and their families. Clinical practice guidelines for communicating prognosis and end-of-life issues with adults in the advanced stages of a life-limiting illness, and their caregivers was launched today * * *. The document was developed by a team from Sydney and Flinders Universities, led by Dr Josephine Clayton, and funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). The guidelines were published today as a special supplement to the Medical Journal of Australia. “The guidelines not only outline best practice in communicating about these issues, but also cover practical issues such as likely symptoms and how they are treated, and what will happen close to death."

• Dallas Morning News:

• "Dying on your own terms", by Jeffrey Weiss (06/16/07)
• Synopsis: "Ruth Graham case puts spotlight on value of early end-of-life talks".
  
• Excerpt: The dignified, semi-public passing of Ruth Graham showed a family struggling with end-of-life issues that affect many American families: private home, hospital or nursing home? Aggressive treatment to the end or comfort care? When is it time to let go? Mrs. Graham, who died Thursday, was not merely the wife of a famous person. Her husband, Billy, is among the best-known religious leaders in the world, and Mrs. Graham carried her own moral and religious reputation. Who she was drew particular attention to the moral decisions associated with the end of her life. * * * How she and her family reached that decision offers valuable lessons for others who will inevitably face similar situations, said professionals who work with the dying. The most important lesson: Don't wait to discuss end-of-life questions. Talk with your family, prepare an "advance directive" or living will, think through what you do and do not want done to you as you approach your death.

  2007-06-18:

• Newsweek:

• "Patients have a right to make their own medical decisions", by Jane Bryant Quinn (06/25/07).
• Excerpt: There's more reason than ever to leave written instructions about the medical care you want if you're unable to speak for yourself. In the wake of the Terri Schiavo case, in which her husband and parents fought over whether to remove her feeding tubes, right-to-life activists have been working on state legislatures. Their objective: requiring doctors and families to keep life support going for patients in a permanently comatose state. If that's not what you want, you need to make it clear.

• Foster's Online (Dover, NH):

• "Discussion on end-of-life care needed", by Gretyl Macalaster (06/18/07).
• Excerpt: "Dr. Ira Byock thinks the conversation about reclaiming the end of life and making it a comfortable, even enjoyable period is long overdue. Byock, Director of Palliative Medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, is trying to facilitate a national conversation on end of life issues, including the improvement of life for the frail and disabled, and their caregivers. His targets are presidential candidates." * * *
• Reference: Reclaiming the End of Life Initiative.

• Spirit India:

• "New guidelines for communicating end-of-life issues in Australia" (06/18/07).
• Excerpts: Australian health practitioners now have new guidelines to help them discuss end-of-life issues with palliative care patients and their families. Clinical practice guidelines for communicating prognosis and end-of-life issues with adults in the advanced stages of a life-limiting illness, and their caregivers was launched today * * *. The document was developed by a team from Sydney and Flinders Universities, led by Dr Josephine Clayton, and funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). The guidelines were published today as a special supplement to the Medical Journal of Australia. “The guidelines not only outline best practice in communicating about these issues, but also cover practical issues such as likely symptoms and how they are treated, and what will happen close to death."

• Dallas Morning News:

• "Dying on your own terms", by Jeffrey Weiss (06/16/07)
• Synopsis: "Ruth Graham case puts spotlight on value of early end-of-life talks".
  
• Excerpt: The dignified, semi-public passing of Ruth Graham showed a family struggling with end-of-life issues that affect many American families: private home, hospital or nursing home? Aggressive treatment to the end or comfort care? When is it time to let go? Mrs. Graham, who died Thursday, was not merely the wife of a famous person. Her husband, Billy, is among the best-known religious leaders in the world, and Mrs. Graham carried her own moral and religious reputation. Who she was drew particular attention to the moral decisions associated with the end of her life. * * * How she and her family reached that decision offers valuable lessons for others who will inevitably face similar situations, said professionals who work with the dying. The most important lesson: Don't wait to discuss end-of-life questions. Talk with your family, prepare an "advance directive" or living will, think through what you do and do not want done to you as you approach your death.
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