Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Compassion & Choices: The Fight for Choice at the End of Life

On Tuesday, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed the Terminal Patients' Right to Know End- of-Life Options Act, AB 2747 (Berg-Levine). The act is the first in the nation to provide terminally ill patients with a full disclosure of, and counseling about, all available end-of-life care options accepted in law and medicine.

When requested, information about hospice care, refusal or withdrawing of life-prolonging treatments, voluntary stopping eating and drinking (VSED), palliative care and palliative sedation will be discussed with the patient. The Act also requires that health care providers who do not wish to comply with a particular patient's choice must refer or transfer the patient to another provider.

"Dying patients needlessly suffer due to a lack of essential information. As a result, many spend their last days in agony. Too many patients make the most important decision of their lives – how they will live their final days – without being fully informed of their legal rights," said Barbara Coombs Lee, president of Compassion & Choices, sponsor of the measure. "The Right to Know End-of-Life Options Act would require physicians and health care providers to provide a full range of information about options when patients request it. The Act puts the information and power to choose in patients' hands."

Thirty years ago, California led the nation by giving people the right to express their wishes for health care in advance. It's time to take this next step to ensure that terminally-ill patients have all of the information that they need to make timely and informed decisions regarding their care. Information and counseling regarding end-of-life care options is essential for many terminally ill patients and their families. It can help the patient weigh all of their options and make an informed decision that best meets their needs. It gives the physician an opportunity to discuss the benefits and disadvantages of all available treatments, and it can facilitate earlier access to hospice care.

More ...

http://www.compassionandchoices.org/righttoknow/