Riverside Superior Court victory for medical aid in dying

CA COURT REJECTS MOTION TO SUSPEND MEDICAL AID-IN-DYING LAW

August 26, 2016 9:26 pm Leave a Comment

(Riverside, CA – Aug. 26, 2016) Compassion & Choices praised a Riverside Superior Court decision today to reject a preliminary injunction motion that was filed to suspend the state’s new medical aid-in-dying law, the California End of Life Option Act.

However, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Ottolia allowed the suit by the Life Legal Defense Foundation, American Academy of Medical Ethics and several physicians asking the court to overturn the law to move forward.

The End of Life Option Act gives terminally ill, mentally capable adults the option to request a doctor’s prescription for medication they can decide to take to die peacefully and quickly in their sleep if their end-of-life suffering becomes unbearable. The law took effect June 9, 2016.

Judge Ottolia ruled that the legislature enacted the law properly during the healthcare special session in 2015, that the law’s definition of terminal disease is not unconstitutionally vague and that the law does not violate the Hippocratic Oath of “Do No Harm.”

“This ruling is a victory for terminally ill Californians and their families because now they know they won’t have to live through needlessly painful and prolonged deaths,” said John Kappos, a Newport Beachpartner in the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers LLP, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of Compassion & Choices urging the court to deny the preliminary injunction. “While the court still has to decide the merits of the case, based on this ruling and prior court rulings in similar cases, we are confident we will prevail in the end.”

“This ruling is a validation for the families of terminally ill Californians like Christy O’Donnell and Jennifer Glass who bravely fought until their last breath to pass the End of Life Option Act,” said Compassion & Choices National Director of Legal Advocacy Kevin Díaz. “The court ruled that suspending the law would have done more harm to terminally ill Californians who want the option of medical aid in dying than the hypothetical harm to the physician plaintiffs who have not had any patients who have requested this option.”

Compassion & Choices’ friend-of-the-court brief, which the court accepted, is posted at:www.compassionandchoices.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/160719-CONFORMED-Riverside-Amicus-Brief.pdf

The Best Way to Access California’s End of Life Option Act

June 9, 2016 5:51 pm Leave a Comment

Thanks to California’s End of Life Option Act law taking effect today, terminally ill adults in California with less than six months to live finally have the option to ask their doctor for prescription medication they can decide to take, so they can die peacefully in their sleep, if their suffering becomes unbearable. The process of accessing the law takes time, so here are a few tips to make the process as efficient as possible.

Compassion & Choices has decades of experience helping to implement similar laws in Oregon (1997), Washington (2008), Montana (2009) and Vermont (2013). Based on this experience, we recommend terminally ill Californians interested in the new law consult with their personal doctor soon about their full range of end-of-life care options. Under any circumstances, your doctor needs to understand your personal goals, preference and values. If you want the option of medical aid in dying, we recommend you ask your doctor if she or he would be willing to write a prescription for you if you qualify under the law. If your doctor is unwilling to do so, ask for a referral to another doctor who can take over primary responsibility for your health care and treatment of your terminal disease, and who would be willing evaluate your request in an unbiased way and write a prescription if you qualify.

It is important to note the law requires any physician who writes an aid-in-dying prescription to be the licensed physician “who has primary responsibility for the health care of an individual and treatment of the individual’s terminal disease.” A doctor who is not providing medical care for you and treating your terminal illness is not authorized to provide medical aid in dying. In addition, the second physician, who confirms the terminal diagnosis, must be a licensed physician who is qualified by specialty or experience to confirm a professional diagnosis and prognosis about an individual’s terminal illness. The law does a good job of balancing the need to ensure that appropriate medical providers evaluate and honor requests for aid in dying, with respect for medical regulatory authorities and standards of care.

We do not recommend seeking out a doctor who “specializes” in writing aid-in-dying prescriptions because she or he is unlikely to meet the definition of a participating physician under the law. The process of getting an aid-in-dying prescription takes at least 15 days, but can take much longer if you waste precious time pursuing a physician who cannot take primary responsibility for your health care and treatment of your terminal disease. Certainly, it’s better to know ahead of time that you have a supportive healthcare system or medical team. For these reasons, we recommend asking your doctor now if she or he supports patient choice. You may also visit our website that provides a list of supportive healthcare systems and facilities in California at www.EndOfLifeOption.org.

California End of Life Option Act to Take Effect Today

5:15 pm Leave a Comment

The California End of Life Option Act takes effect today, authorizing 12 percent of terminally ill adults nationwide to have the option to request medical aid in dying if their suffering becomes intolerable. The other states that previously authorized medical aid in dying – Oregon (1997), Washington (2008), Montana (2009) and Vermont (2013) – comprise 4 percent of the nation’s population.

“This is a monumental day for Californians suffering from terminal diseases. Many dying Californians – like Jennifer Glass and Christy O’Donnell – spent their final months advocating for this option that finally is a reality,” said Matt Whitaker, California State Director for Compassion & Choices.

“Based on the experience with similar laws in other states, less than 1 percent of terminally ill Californians will need to utilize medical aid in dying,” said Whitaker. “But simply having the option gives them peace of mind that often has a palliative effect. This law is spurring open, honest conversations among California families about end-of-life care options that were not taking place before.”

The new law’s implementation is a tremendous relief for Elizabeth Wallner, a 52-year old Sacramento single mom living with terminal colon cancer who endured 6 surgeries to remove parts of my liver and colon. She has undergone radiation, radio-ablation and other treatments that offer even the slightest hope of extending her life.

“I am relieved to know the End of Life Option Act takes effect today, and I can ask my surgeon for prescription medication that I can decide to ingest if my suffering becomes intolerable in the final stages of this deadly disease which will allow me to die peacefully in my sleep,” she said. “But just because I will have this option does not mean my life will end on June 9. In fact, I will continue to live life to the fullest and care for my aging parents.”

Matt Fairchild, a Catholic, 46-year-old, retired Army staff sergeant from Burbank living with terminal melanoma that has spread to his bones, lungs and brain said he and his wife of 18 years, Ginger, felt a sense of relief.

“I don’t know if I will take the aid-in-dying medication once I get it, or if nature will just take its course, but I want the option to end my suffering if it becomes too much to endure,” said Fairchild, who takes 20 pills a day to treat his cancer symptoms and has undergone numerous surgeries to extend his life. “Ironically, having the aid-in-dying medication in hand will enable me to focus on living, not on dying.”

Compassion & Choices recently launched a statewide bilingual campaign to educate terminally ill Californians, families and medical providers about the benefits and requirements of the state’s medical aid-in-dying law. California doctors, pharmacists and residents can access information on the End of Life Option Act by calling Compassion & Choices’ free hotline, 1-800-893-4548, or by visiting: www.EndOfLifeOption.org. California physicians also can speak to doctors with years of experience in end-of-life care options, including medical aid in dying, by calling Compassion & Choices’ free, confidential Doc2Doc consultation program: 1-800-247-7421.

“A central part of medical aid in dying is that it preserves the relationship between a terminally ill person and her or his doctor,” said Dr. Catherine S. Forest, MD MPH, medical director at the Stanford Health Care at Los Altos, clinical assistant professor of medicine at the Stanford School of Medicine and a practicing family physician for over 20 years. “It allows a doctor to honor each person’s unique condition and circumstance when writing the prescription, just as they do in writing a prescription for any and/or every other medication.”

Dan Diaz, Brittany Maynard’s widower, who lives in Alamo and advocated for the California End of Life Option Act and now is advocating for similar legislation in other states, shared with a sense of pride as he recalled his late wife.

“The end-of-life option that Brittany supported will now become law in our home state of California on June 9th,” he said. “This means a terminally ill individual will not have to leave home like we did and that individual can pursue this option of a gentle passing if it becomes necessary for them.”

As part of the California Access Campaign, Compassion & Choices is partnering with medical centers, hospice facilities, community health centers and nonprofit organizations to ensure Californians statewide understand that medical aid in dying is a legitimate, accessible end-of-life care option.

Compassion & Choices Promotes Oregon State Director to Help Implement California Medical Aid-in-Dying Law

May 27, 2016 9:16 pm Leave a Comment

(Los Angeles – May 23, 2016) Compassion & Choices today announced the promotion of Oregon state director Matt Whitaker as its new California state director. A board-certified music therapist with clinical experience in long-term acute care and geriatrics, Whitaker will lead the organization’s campaign to help Californians access the state’s new medical aid-in-dying law that takes effect June 9.

“I am excited and humbled to move into this new role to improve and expand California’s full range of options to relieve suffering at the end of life, including hospice, palliative care and medical aid in dying,” Whitaker said. “We are utilizing all our resources to ensure every Californian, through their healthcare providers, has full access to the End of Life Option Act when this new law takes effect on June 9.”

“Matt is an experienced, talented leader who has defended end-of-life options for terminally ill Oregonians for years,” said Kat West, national director of policy & programs for Compassion & Choices. “He will ensure terminally ill Californians who want access to more end-of-life options, including medical aid in dying, will get it.”

Whitaker replaces Toni Broaddus, who led Compassion & Choices’ campaign to pass the End of Life Option Act. She will move into a new role as Acting National Director of Political Affairs & Advocacy, working with the organization’s national field and political teams to change policies and laws across the country.

Whitaker helped lead the recent launch of the California Access Campaign, a statewide bilingual effort (www.EndOfLifeoption.org) to educate Californians, families and medical providers about the benefits and requirements of the state’s medical aid-in-dying law.

Compassion & Choices is partnering with – and providing technical assistance to – medical centers, hospice facilities, community health centers and nonprofit groups to ensure Californians statewide understand that medical aid in dying is a legitimate, accessible end-of-life care option.

Californians and their families, physicians and pharmacists can call a free hotline, 800-893-4548, to access bilingual information on the End of Life Option Act.

California End of Life Option Act Advocates Praise UCLA Implementation Guidance

9:15 pm Leave a Comment

(Los Angeles, Calif. – May 19, 2016) Compassion & Choices praised a study released today by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research on implementation guidance on California’s End of Life Option Act that takes effect on June 9. The study, “Implementing Aid in Dying in California: Experiences from Other States Indicates the Need for Strong Implementation Guidance,” concludes the new law: “presents a unique opportunity to make end-of-life care in California more person-centered.”

“Just as the UCLA report recommends, we are using our experience working in other states where medical aid in dying is authorized to educate California medical providers, terminally ill adults and families about all end-of-life care options to make the law’s implementation as smooth as possible,” said Kat West, national director of policy and programs at Compassion & Choices. “Our only significant disagreement is over the recommendation that state officials collect more data than the law requires. Our experience indicates this recommendation would create unnecessary barriers and potentially intimidate terminally ill Californians and doctors into not accessing the law.”

Compassion & Choices agrees with and is helping to carry out the following recommendations in the UCLA study:

Improve end-of-life care generally

“Professional organizations and health-care provider organizations should use the legalization of AID as an opportunity to improve all forms of person-centered care at the end of life … Studies have found that … removing barriers to all end-of-life options improves patient-centered care.”

Educational outreach

“Professional and provider organizations should engage in educational programs for providers, state officials, and the general public. The general public lacks an understanding of the range of options at the end of life. A public education campaign may also improve shared decision making by providing patients with a language for discussing their preferences and needs … Health care providers from a diversity of professional backgrounds would also benefit from continued education on how to discuss end-of-life concerns.”

Training for providers

“Training could increase providers’ comfort and competency in discussing AID as well as hospice, palliative care, and the discontinuation of curative efforts. Such training could be enhanced by bringing experienced clinicians from states already practicing AID to California to lead trainings on AID practice.”

Compassion & Choices is taking the following steps to fulfill these recommendations:

In January, Compassion & Choices launched a statewide bilingual California Access Campaign to educate terminally ill Californians, families and medical providers about the benefits and requirements of the state’s medical aid-in-dying law. The organization is partnering with and providing technical assistance to medical centers, hospice facilities, community health centers and nonprofit organizations to ensure Californians understand medical aid in dying is a trusted medical practice and legitimate end-of-life care option. Here is a new video explaining the campaign: bit.ly/CaAccessVideo

California residents, physicians and pharmacists can call Compassion & Choices’ free hotline, 800.893.4548, to access information on the End of Life Option Act. Other resources are available atwww.EndOfLifeoption.org. Physicians can speak to doctors with years of experience in end-of-life care options, including medical aid in dying, by calling Compassion & Choices’ free, confidential Doc2Doc consultation line: 800.247.7421.

Implementation of the End of Life Option Act Just One Month Away

May 20, 2016 9:28 pm Leave a Comment

With the June 9 implementation date of the End of Life Option Act just one month away, things have never been busier for Compassion & Choices’ staff and volunteers in California. We have devoted the full resources and talents of this dynamic organization to making sure California is ready when that day arrives.

We’ve learned in our many years of implementing medical aid-in-dying laws in other states that the hard work of providing access truly begins after a law has been passed. And considering that as of June 9 the number of Americans eligible to seek medical aid in dying will quadruple and there’s plenty of work to be done.

Check out some of the amazing work we’ve accomplished so far to reach thousands of Californians:

Community Presentations: 365

Workshops for Medical Providers: 33

Active Action Teams: 23

Hospices Contacted: Over 200

Volunteers trained: 1437

Websites built: 1 (coming soon!)

As you can see, this has already been a massive undertaking. And it will only grow as our outreach and education work begins to take root and the law is enacted.

But all this work is going to need financial resources, and we’re depending on our dedicated supporters in California and across the country to make the California Access Campaign successful.

Your gift today will help fund our expansive outreach efforts and allow us to build on the relationships we’re forging throughout the state. This is the hard work, happening every day, that will help Californians who are suffering needlessly in their final days.

Donate to Compassion & Choices today to help provide the resources and training it takes to bring meaningful access to medical aid in dying to those who need it in California.

Calif. Gov.’s Signing of Aid-in-Dying Bill Should Spur Action in Other States

October 5, 2015 9:51 pm Leave a Comment

Brittany Maynard’s Story, Victory in Nation’s Most Populous State Will Have Ripple Effect for Death-With-Dignity Movement

(Sacramento, Calif. – Oct. 5, 2015) Gov. Jerry Brown’s signing of California’s End of Life Option Act today should spur legislators in other states to advance bills to allow terminally ill adults the option of medical aid in dying to end unbearable suffering, advocates say.

The bill’s signing into law comes one year after Brittany Maynard and her family launched a partnership with Compassion & Choices on Oct. 6, 2014, to authorize this end-of-life option in California and other states nationwide. Maynard was a 29-year-old Californian who brought international attention to the issue when she had to move to Oregon to utilize its death-with-dignity law, which she utilized to end her suffering from terminal brain cancer on Nov. 1, 2014.

“This is the biggest victory for the death-with-dignity movement since Oregon passed the nation’s first law two decades ago,” said Compassion & Choices President Barbara Coombs Lee, a lawyer, former ER and ICU nurse and physician assistant, who coauthored the Oregon Death with Dignity Act.

“This victory is hugely significant in both substance and scope,” Coombs Lee observed. “Enactment of this law in California means we are providing this option to more than 1 in 10 Americans.”

Three out of four Californians (76%) support the End of Life Option Act (ABX2-15), according to a poll released last month by the Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) at the University of California, Berkeley. Support levels include 82 percent of Democrats, 79 percent of independents, 67 percent of Republicans and at least 69 percent across all other demographic categories, from gender to educational, income and age levels.

Compassion & Choices’ campaigners, political strategists, legislative champions, including Assemblymember Susan Talamantes Eggman and Senators Bill Monning and Lois Wolk, and powerful storytellers overcame numerous obstacles to facilitate the passage of the End of Life Option Act through the legislature in a remarkably short time period of eight months. A key to victory was the California Medical Association’s decision in June to withdraw its decades-long opposition to medical aid in dying. Compassion & Choices organized physicians in California as part of its nationwide Doctors for Dignity campaign to advocate for revising the aid-in-dying policy of the CMA and other medical organizations. The CMA’s resistance to this end-of-life option had doomed the six prior ballot and legislative efforts to authorize it since 1988.

“What we have done in the legislature has only been possible because of what Compassion & Choices has organized throughout the state and throughout the nation,” said Senator Bill Monning, a primary coauthor of the law. (See video of this soundbite after the legislature passed the bill at 13:30 mark: bit.ly/Sept14newsconf.)

“The seventh attempt was the charm to authorize medical aid in dying in California thanks to the inspirational voices of Brittany Maynard, her family and other advocates with heartbreaking stories of end-of-life suffering,” said Compassion & Choices California Campaign Director Toni Broaddus. “They refused to take no for an answer.”

The news of the bill signing brought tears of joy to Christy O’Donnell, a 47-year-old single mom from Santa Clarita dying from lung, brain, spine, rib and liver cancer. She testified in support of the bill before the Senate and the Assembly. Christy’s doctors say she will likely die painfully within the next few months from the rapidly spreading cancer.

“I’m overjoyed for all the terminally ill people in California, who can now relax knowing they finally have the choice of aid in dying as one of their end-of-life options! No more worrying that they will suffer great physical and emotional pain at the end of their life when they have already suffered painfully for so long as a result of their terminal illnesses,” O’Donnell said. “Governor Brown, you have made me a proud Californian today knowing I live in a state where our governor acts in accordance with what his people need, want, and deserve. In this case, a peaceful and pain free death with their family.”

Gov. Brown’s signing of the End of Life Option Act follows the Senate passage of the bill by a vote of 23 to 15 on Sept. 11. Two days earlier, the Assembly passed the legislation with bipartisan support, 44 to 35.

“I am extremely grateful to the governor for his leadership and signing this vital piece of legislation. My wife, Brittany Maynard, spoke up last year to make a difference for terminally ill individuals who are facing a potentially harsh dying process,” said Maynard’s husband, Dan Diaz, who lives in Alamo. Diaz testified before the Assembly and Senate in support of the End of Life Option Act and met with legislators one-on-one urging them to vote for the End of Life Option Act since the introduction of the bill in January.

“I am glad to see that our legislators have listened to Brittany and the hundreds of terminally ill Californians who are in a similar crisis,” added Diaz. “Thank you, Governor Brown!”

“An overwhelming majority of people of California voiced their dissatisfaction with the lack of options for the terminally ill in this great state. Governor Brown listened with a compassionate heart and a discerning mind. His signature on the End of Life Option Act allows true principles of mercy to guide end-of-life care for the terminally ill in California,” said Maynard’s mother, Debbie Ziegler, who lives in Carlsbad. She testified before the Senate in support of the End of Life Option Act and met with lawmakers one-on-one urging them to vote for the bill since its introduction in January. “Bless you, Governor Brown.”

Upon hearing Gov. Brown signed the bill, Dr. Robert Olvera, a Harvard-trained physician fromSanta Ana, caressed the photo of his 25-year-old daughter, Emily Rose, who suffered horribly as she died from Leukemia in 2014.

“My daughter did not die in vain,” he said tearfully. “This is the option she wanted to end her suffering. I thank Gov. Brown for giving dying Californians this option so they don’t have to suffer the way my daughter did.”

Besides California and Oregon, three other states authorize medical aid in dying: Washington, Montana and Vermont. A New Mexico appellate court recently overturned a 2014 district court ruling that aid in dying is a fundamental right under the state constitution, but the case will be heard by the New Mexico Supreme Court.

Calif. Gov.’s Signing of Aid-in-Dying Bill Should Spur Action in Other States

9:10 pm Leave a Comment

Brittany Maynard’s Story, Victory in Nation’s Most Populous State Will Have Ripple Effect for Death-With-Dignity Movement

“This victory is hugely significant in both substance and scope,” Coombs Lee observed. “Enactment of this law in California means we are providing this option to more than 1 in 10 Americans.”

“I am glad to see that our legislators have listened to Brittany and the hundreds of terminally ill Californians who are in a similar crisis,” added Diaz. “Thank you, Governor Brown!”

Upon hearing Gov. Brown signed the bill, Dr. Robert Olvera, a Harvard-trained physician from Santa Ana, caressed the photo of his 25-year-old daughter, Emily Rose, who suffered horribly as she died from Leukemia in 2014.

Author Archives: Chris Meacham