Assisted Suicide

Should terminally ill patients be able to voluntarily end their life? There are many ethical implications regarding this hotly debated topic, but many proponents of the right-to-die stress how such a choice can help patients avoid unnecessary suffering.

If things get bad and my quality of life just doesn't cut it anymore, I don't want to linger on Earth -- miserable, unaware, a burden to family. But the question is -- What to do about it?

How far should a caregiver go in supporting the wants and needs of a beloved spouse or parent – or even their child – when the requested support may hasten death?

Vermont passed a landmark bill legalizing physician-assisted suicide and offering protection to doctors and family of people who seek life-ending medication.

Selecting a course of action at the end of life can be a complex task, but it must be done. Often a new diagnosis is the instigating factor in formally deciding on a plan.This can include a DNR, advance directive, living will, and/or VSED.

Dr. Sherwin B. Nuland, surgeon and award-winning author of “How We Die: Reflections on Life’s Final Chapter,” offers insights on aging, illness and controversial end-of-life care decisions.

I saw the play "Freud's Last Session" about an imaginary conversation between the ill and aging Sigmund Freud and the up-and-coming writer C.S. Lewis. It rekindled my own thoughts about assisted suicide.

There is an entire set of literature about the topic of not feeding at the end of life. It even has its own acronym, VSED (voluntarily stopping eating and drinking).

I wonder why more people with Alzheimer's don't resort to suicide, given the overall attitude towards the disease.