A growing number of healthcare professional societies have accepted medical aid in dying in their position statements and codes of ethics. But the American Academy of Family Physicians has gone a step further.
AAFP has formed a new member interest group (MIG) on Medical Aid in Dying. The purpose of this MIG is to "serve as a resource for information about the practice of medical aid in dying and provide a community where members can share best practices, discuss challenging clinical cases and enlist advice from colleagues."
Similar work is being done on a larger scale through the American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying. But AAFP is one of the largest national medical organizations, with 140,000 members. This support from a major medical association shows that MAID is accepted as a part of the practice of medicine.
It is timely that we address the pitfalls of Oregon-type death laws.
ReplyDeleteThe mandatory falsification of death certificates skews the public medical data base unnecessarily.
The realization that induced premature deaths are not peaceful nor rapid 25-72% of the time, quantified in the study by Bill Gallerizzo, is a call for amendments — amendments to ban the use of drugs deemed cruel for death row, for official assisted suicides where applicable and unofficial hastened deaths.
That would stir the backwaters of stealth euthanasia currently escaping scrutiny.
There are other amendment needs, like provide for a witness to our choice of the “self-administration." As it is, with no oversight, 17-21% of the subjects experience forced premature deaths to satisfy their facilitators.
These three amendments would bring much needed transparency to the administration of the public policy.
Bradley Williams,
Care Giver