A Dignified Ending

A Dignified Ending PDF Author: Lewis M. Cohen, MD
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538115751
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
Each year, more than one million people and their loved-ones arrive at a decision to cease attempts at curative medical treatments and shift to hospice care, while one-in-five Americans now live in in geographical regions that have established lawful protocols allowing medical aid in dying—also known as assisted suicide. In this powerful new work, Lew Cohen, a psychiatrist and palliative medicine researcher, reveals a self-determination movement that empowers people to shape the timing and circumstances of their deaths, decriminalizes laws threatening those who help them, and passes assisted dying legislature. He offers a vivid tapestry woven from the candid, inspirational, and graphic stories of individuals who sought to choreograph how they would die. There is nothing simple about these decisions, and A Dignified Ending tackles the intricacies of timing, the presence of dementia and other dire but not terminal conditions, the legal risks, as well as the mixed reactions of the disability community. Cohen illuminates the evolution of right-to-die organizations in the United States, and the impact of activists like Jack Kevorkian, Derek Humphrey, Faye Girsh, Cody Curtis, and Brittany Maynard. The decision to conclude one’s life with a planned death is an emotionally polarizing subject. Nonetheless, the public increasingly wants to control how they die. This requires that people formulate their end-of-life preferences and not wait until the last moment to communicate these with physicians and families. A Dignified Ending conveys truthful and nuanced accounts of men and women who chose to die, and stories of the activists—proponents and opponents— who promote this growing right-to-die movement.

A Dignified Ending

A Dignified Ending PDF Author: Lewis M. Cohen, MD
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538115751
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 385

Get Book

Book Description
Each year, more than one million people and their loved-ones arrive at a decision to cease attempts at curative medical treatments and shift to hospice care, while one-in-five Americans now live in in geographical regions that have established lawful protocols allowing medical aid in dying—also known as assisted suicide. In this powerful new work, Lew Cohen, a psychiatrist and palliative medicine researcher, reveals a self-determination movement that empowers people to shape the timing and circumstances of their deaths, decriminalizes laws threatening those who help them, and passes assisted dying legislature. He offers a vivid tapestry woven from the candid, inspirational, and graphic stories of individuals who sought to choreograph how they would die. There is nothing simple about these decisions, and A Dignified Ending tackles the intricacies of timing, the presence of dementia and other dire but not terminal conditions, the legal risks, as well as the mixed reactions of the disability community. Cohen illuminates the evolution of right-to-die organizations in the United States, and the impact of activists like Jack Kevorkian, Derek Humphrey, Faye Girsh, Cody Curtis, and Brittany Maynard. The decision to conclude one’s life with a planned death is an emotionally polarizing subject. Nonetheless, the public increasingly wants to control how they die. This requires that people formulate their end-of-life preferences and not wait until the last moment to communicate these with physicians and families. A Dignified Ending conveys truthful and nuanced accounts of men and women who chose to die, and stories of the activists—proponents and opponents— who promote this growing right-to-die movement.

The Inevitable

The Inevitable PDF Author: Katie Engelhart
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 1250201470
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
“A remarkably nuanced, empathetic, and well-crafted work of journalism, [The Inevitable] explores what might be called the right-to-die underground, a world of people who wonder why a medical system that can do so much to try to extend their lives can do so little to help them end those lives in a peaceful and painless way.”—Brooke Jarvis, The New Yorker More states and countries are passing right-to-die laws that allow the sick and suffering to end their lives at pre-planned moments, with the help of physicians. But even where these laws exist, they leave many people behind. The Inevitable moves beyond margins of the law to the people who are meticulously planning their final hours—far from medical offices, legislative chambers, hospital ethics committees, and polite conversation. It also shines a light on the people who help them: loved ones and, sometimes, clandestine groups on the Internet that together form the “euthanasia underground.” Katie Engelhart, a veteran journalist, focuses on six people representing different aspects of the right to die debate. Two are doctors: a California physician who runs a boutique assisted death clinic and has written more lethal prescriptions than anyone else in the U.S.; an Australian named Philip Nitschke who lost his medical license for teaching people how to end their lives painlessly and peacefully at “DIY Death” workshops. The other four chapters belong to people who said they wanted to die because they were suffering unbearably—of old age, chronic illness, dementia, and mental anguish—and saw suicide as their only option. Spanning North America, Europe, and Australia, The Inevitable offers a deeply reported and fearless look at a morally tangled subject. It introduces readers to ordinary people who are fighting to find dignity and authenticity in the final hours of their lives.

Facing Death

Facing Death PDF Author: Jim deMaine
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781734979107
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
ad;bnpaio nbqw;oreb n Is it possible to have a good death, free from unnecessary pain and trauma? What if our final days were designed to bring about reconciliation and release? In this wise and large-hearted book, Dr. Jim deMaine offers advice pointing the way toward a grace-filled transition out of life. Facing Death is both a memoir-in-vignettes and a handbook full of practical advice from Dr. deMaine's forty years in busy hospitals and ICUs. Using stories from his own life and practice, the veteran physician walks readers through ethical questions around "heroic" interventions: Do we fully understand what we're asking when we tell doctors to "do everything" to prolong life, even in cases when a patient has no chance of regaining consciousness? If we write advance directives outlining the kinds of care we would, or would not want, how can we ensure that they will be followed? As a pulmonary and critical care specialist, Dr. deMaine developed deep experience navigating such quandaries with patients and their families. In Facing Death he also treads into territory many physicians avoid, such as the role of spirituality; conflicts between doctors and families; cultural traditions that can aid or impede the goal of a peaceful transition, and ways to leave a moral legacy for our descendants.

In Love

In Love PDF Author: Amy Bloom
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0593243943
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A powerful memoir of a love that leads two people to find a courageous way to part—and a woman’s struggle to go forward in the face of loss—that “enriches the reader’s life with urgency and gratitude” (The Washington Post) “A pleasure to read . . . Rarely has a memoir about death been so full of life. . . . Bloom has a talent for mixing the prosaic and profound, the slapstick and the serious.”—USA Today ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR Amy Bloom began to notice changes in her husband, Brian: He retired early from a new job he loved; he withdrew from close friendships; he talked mostly about the past. Suddenly, it seemed there was a glass wall between them, and their long walks and talks stopped. Their world was altered forever when an MRI confirmed what they could no longer ignore: Brian had Alzheimer’s disease. Forced to confront the truth of the diagnosis and its impact on the future he had envisioned, Brian was determined to die on his feet, not live on his knees. Supporting each other in their last journey together, Brian and Amy made the unimaginably difficult and painful decision to go to Dignitas, an organization based in Switzerland that empowers a person to end their own life with dignity and peace. In this heartbreaking and surprising memoir, Bloom sheds light on a part of life we so often shy away from discussing—its ending. Written in Bloom’s captivating, insightful voice and with her trademark wit and candor, In Love is an unforgettable portrait of a beautiful marriage, and a boundary-defying love.

Final Exit

Final Exit PDF Author: Derek Humphry
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780140171303
Category : Accomplices
Languages : en
Pages : 222

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Book Description
First published in the US in 1991 by the Hemlock Society, it discusses the practicalities of suicide and assisted suicide for those terminally ill, and is intended to inform mature adults suffering from a terminal illness. It also gives guidance to those who may support the option of suicide under those circumstances. The Australian edition was prepared by Dr Helga Kuhse. The author is a US journalist who has written or co-authored books on civil liberties, racial integration and euthanasia and is a past president of the World Federation of Right to Die societies. Sales of the book are category one restricted: not available to persons under 18.

Dignity (Determination Trilogy 1)

Dignity (Determination Trilogy 1) PDF Author: Lesli Richardson
Publisher: Lesli Richardson
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
(Book 1 in the Determination Trilogy) He wants it back… My name is Kevin Markos, former anchor for Full News Broadcasting. I say former, because an exhaustion- and frustration-fueled emotional on-air meltdown of apocalyptic proportions means my previously dignified reputation and successful career as a highly respected conservative TV news host and commentator lay in smoking, irreparable ruins. Only one person will hire me now, and it's the last person I want to work for—Democratic Senator ShaeLynn Samuels, who's determined to be the next president of the United States. My reluctance isn't because of her, but because of who's working for her: Christopher Bruunt, the head of her Secret Service detail. A college spring break trip I thought was safely hidden forever in my past, even if it never strayed far from my thoughts, now comes back to haunt me. But if I take this job and succeed, it could resurrect my career and put me at the right hand of the most powerful person in the United States. But how much am I personally willing to sacrifice to claw my way back to the top? Because Christopher never forgot that spring break, either. And he has a few agendas of his own. This MMF contemporary political romance features older main characters, second-chance love, an Alpha Secret Service agent, power exchange, pining, frenemies to lovers, a secret workplace romance at the highest levels of our nation's government, political intrigue, and a satisfying HEA. Book 1 of the Determination Trilogy, a standalone spin-off trilogy set in the world of the Governor Trilogy, the Devastation Trilogy, and others.

Death with Dignity

Death with Dignity PDF Author: Robert Orfali
Publisher: Hillcrest Publishing Group
ISBN: 1936780186
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Book Description
In this book the author makes a case for legalized physician-assisted dying. Using the latest data from Oregon and the Netherlands, he puts a new slant on perennial debate topics such as "slippery slopes," "the integrity of medicine," and "sanctity of life." This book provides an in-depth look at how we die in America today. It examines the shortcomings of our end-of-life system. You will learn about terminal torture in hospital ICUs and about the alternatives: hospice and palliative care. The author scrutinizes the good, the bad, and the ugly. He provides a critique of the practice of palliative sedation. The book makes a strong case that assisted dying complements hospice. By providing both, Oregon now has the best palliative-care system in America. This book, above all, may help you or someone you care about navigate this strange landscape we call "end of life." It can be an informed guide to "a good death" in the age of hospice and high-tech medical intervention.

Dignified Dying

Dignified Dying PDF Author: Boudewijn Chabot
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 9081619462
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 130

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Book Description
Methods for a humane and self-chosen death. The aim of this book is to stimulate communication between very ill or very old persons and their relatives. The hope is to give them some peace of mind when they have a well-considered and unwavering wish to die, even after discussing this wish with loved ones. This peace of mind will come from the knowledge that they can take control of such an intimate process as their own death.

The Dignity Diet

The Dignity Diet PDF Author: Jd Lin M Eleoff
Publisher: Lin M\Eleoff
ISBN: 9780983286806
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
So, you want to lose weight? Prove it. Ending the cycle of Cry Eat Repeat is difficult but not impossible. The key ingredient? DIGNITY! Dignity is very slimming. It's also highly motivating, deeply inspiring, and easier than any other diet you've ever been on. Quite simply, Dignity fills you up in ways food never will. The magic of The Dignity Diet is that it gets you out of the prison of your own mind. It's the ultimate cure for "diet mentality." Ready to say good-bye to starvation, deprivation, and celery sticks? Get yourself some Dignity, first, and watch what happens to your mind, your body, and your whole life.

Physician-Assisted Death

Physician-Assisted Death PDF Author: James M. Humber
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1592594484
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 159

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Book Description
Physician-Assisted Death is the eleventh volume of Biomedical Ethics Reviews. We, the editors, are pleased with the response to the series over the years and, as a result, are happy to continue into a second decade with the same general purpose and zeal. As in the past, contributors to projected volumes have been asked to summarize the nature of the literature, the prevailing attitudes and arguments, and then to advance the discussion in some way by staking out and arguing forcefully for some basic position on the topic targeted for discussion. For the present volume on Physician-Assisted Death, we felt it wise to enlist the services of a guest editor, Dr. Gregg A. Kasting, a practicing physician with extensive clinical knowledge of the various problems and issues encountered in discussing physician assisted death. Dr. Kasting is also our student and just completing a graduate degree in philosophy with a specialty in biomedical ethics here at Georgia State University. Apart from a keen interest in the topic, Dr. Kasting has published good work in the area and has, in our opinion, done an excellent job in taking on the lion's share of editing this well-balanced and probing set of essays. We hope you will agree that this volume significantly advances the level of discussion on physician-assisted euthanasia. Incidentally, we wish to note that the essays in this volume were all finished and committed to press by January 1993.