The first time I met the small girl in the stroller, I knew she was going to die. She was just 2 at the time, and she had been born with a rare and terminal unknown disease. There was no hope for treatment. At the time, there was also no hope to help end her […]
aid in dying
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Nicolais: Severe enduring anorexia patients should have access to medical aid-in-dying meds
Over the past several weeks, death seems to have lurked in my life. My cousin died just over a month ago. The 23-year-old daughter of my wife’s friend passed away. A colleague suffered the unimaginable loss of his high school senior son. Maybe that drew me to Jennifer Brown’s exceptional article on a Denver doctor […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government
Denver doctor helped patients with severe anorexia obtain aid-in-dying medication, spurring national ethics debate
A Denver eating disorder doctor who has helped patients with anorexia nervosa obtain aid-in-dying medication is jolting the psychiatric community and sparking an emotional, national debate about the ethics of prescribing lethal drugs for people with mental illnesses. Dr. Jennifer Gaudiani, an internal medicine doctor who specializes in eating disorders, published a paper in which […]
Posted inHealth, News
Terminally ill, a Colorado man wanted aid-in-dying. His Catholic hospital said no.
By JoNel Aleccia, Kaiser Health News The call came the last week of September, when Neil Mahoney could still stagger from his bed to the porch of his mobile home to let out his boisterous yellow Lab, Ryder. Rodney Diffendaffer, a clinical pharmacist in Longmont, 45 miles away, had left a message. Your prescription is […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, Health, News
Colorado doctor challenges her firing from Centura Health over assisted suicide
A Colorado doctor fired after tying to help a terminally ill man obtain drugs to end his life has filed an updated lawsuit that challenges her firing by a Christian hospital company. In the case against Centura Health filed Monday, Dr. Barbara Morris alleges it retaliated against her in violation of Colorado’s assisted suicide law […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, Health, News, Politics and Government
Centura Health says clarity is needed on Colorado’s assisted suicide law after lawsuit
By Colleen Slevin, The Associated Press A Christian-affiliated health system in a court fight over Colorado’s assisted suicide law says the state can’t stop religious organization from disciplining employees who encourage the option in violation of its beliefs. In a federal court filing Wednesday, Colorado-based Centura Health argues in part that the U.S. Constitution’s religious […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government
Centura Health sets off national challenge to aid-in-dying laws after firing a Colorado doctor
By JoNel Aleccia, Kaiser Health News A Christian-run health system in Colorado has fired a veteran doctor who went to court to fight for the right of her patient to use the state’s medical aid-in-dying law, citing religious doctrine that describes “assisted suicide” as “intrinsically evil.” Centura Health Corp. this week abruptly terminated Dr. Barbara […]
Posted inHealth
His wife was first to use Colorado’s aid-in-dying law. His advocacy made him an accidental resource for others.
Herb Myers gazes at the note taped to the wall in the kitchen, the one reminding him not to forget his lunch when he leaves for work. There’s also one on a table in the next room telling him which heat vents to open in the winter. His wife, Kathy, made sure to leave handwritten […]