Alzheimer Society Supports Advance Requests for MAID

I have been publishing a series of articles that clarify how individuals can use advance directives to avoid late stage dementia.

• Avoiding Late-stage Dementia with Advance Directives for Stopping Eating and Drinking (KevinMD 2019)

• Response to Resolution A19 Regarding "Stopping Eating and Drinking by Advance Directives" (JAMDA 2019)

• Whether, When, and How to Honor Advance VSED Requests for End-Stage Dementia Patients (AJOB 2019)

I have several more "advance VSED" articles at various stages in the publication pipeline. 

Consequently, I was delighted to see this new Statement from the Alzheimer Society of Canada that supports "advance requests" for MAID. It is unclear whether advance requests for MAID will really become available in Canada. But it is even more unlikely that they will become available in the United States. After all, MAID itself is still only permitted in 10 of 56 jurisdictions.

Nevertheless, the core concept of an "advance request" for MAID is the same as an "advance request" for VSED. In both cases, the individual  avoid late-stage dementia by leaving instructions, today, that others can implemented to hasten death later.