I Don’t Want to Die Like That! Choosing to Stop Eating and Drinking Instead (VSED)

The Vermont Ethics Network is presenting a spring 2025 series of palliative care webinars. The third session (on June 10) is I Don’t Want to Die Like That! Choosing to Stop Eating and Drinking Instead. 

Presenters

• Jonna Goulding, MD, Palliative Care Physician, Central Vermont Medical Center
• Cindy Bruzzese, MPA, MSB, HEC-C, Executive Director & Clinical Ethicist, Vermont Ethics Network & Clinical Ethicist, UVM Medical Center
• Patsy Fortney, CC, Palliative Care Chaplain, Central Vermont Medical Center

Objectives:

• Discuss options with patients who are interested in hastening death in the face of degenerative disease, but are not eligible for Medical Aid in Dying (MAID)
• Distinguish voluntarily stopping eating and drinking (VSED) from stopping eating and drinking by advance directive (SED by AD)
• Feel more confident about supporting patients and their families who want more information about, or are seeking to utilize, VSED 
• Appreciate the ethical, legal, and emotional/spiritual considerations surrounding VSED