Many terminally ill patients suffer for weeks, even months, as their diseases riddle their bodies useless and fill them with physical pain and emotional suffering. Watching someone endure a slow, painful death may provoke inquiries about preventing those circumstances by including terms in an Advance Directive about assisted suicide. In Maryland, assisted suicide is illegal, but with several states allowing this option, these laws are always subject to possible change in the future.
Assisted suicide is when a terminally ill, yet mentally competent, adult makes the choice to take prescribed medication that will end his or her life. This may also be referred to as physician-assisted suicide. Currently, physician-assisted suicide is legal in Oregon, Montana, Washington, California and Vermont. It is also legal in Switzerland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Oregon pioneered this law in 1997 by passing the Death with Dignity Act.
Now in states that followed and legalized physician-assisted suicide, a person wanting to die must show they have a terminal illness and submit to being interviewed by several psychiatrists to determine competency and receive counseling. Since competency is a requirement, anyone suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia-related illnesses will not qualify. Most patients have terminal cancer or ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). If the patient qualifies, the physician may prescribe a drug like secobarbital in a lethal dosage and explain to the patient how to administer the drug. The time from ingestion to death typically ranges from a few minutes to five days.
The point of these laws is to help those with terminal illnesses avoid prolonged pain and suffering while awaiting death. It allows a chosen person to provide the means for suicide but the patient must make the decision and take the medication. Assisted suicide is not euthanasia. The person assisting is providing the means, but the patient commits the act that takes his or her life.
This can be a difficult decision for caregivers. Anyone wanting to include assisted suicide terms in their estate plan need to heavily consider the burden they may be imposing on loved ones (assuming that the law changes at some point in the future). Many healthcare directives provide instructions for ending artificial respiration, feeding tubes or imposing ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ orders; however, assisted suicide is another level.
Fearing pain and prolonged suffering is a valid concern and one that can be discussed at length and proper measures included in Advance Directives or Living Wills. Our experienced and compassionate estate planning attorneys can provide you with some legal options to consider. For more information on creating a Living Will or Advance Directives that state your end-of-life care and wishes for a peaceful dying process, contact Stouffer Legal in the Greater Baltimore area for a consultation. You can schedule an appointment by calling us at (443) 470-3599, emailing us at office@stoufferlegal.com, or register for an upcoming free webinar using the link below:
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