Friday, October 21, 2016

"If Dr. Stevens had believed in assisted suicide, I would be dead"

Jeanette Hall and her son, Scott, in November 2000
By Jeanette Hall

I live in Oregon where assisted suicide is legal. Our law passed in 1997 by a ballot measure that I voted for.

In 2000, I was diagnosed with cancer and told that I had 6 months to a year to live.  I knew that our law had passed, but I didn’t know exactly how to go about doing it. I tried to ask my doctor, Kenneth Stevens MD, but he didn’t really answer me. In hindsight, he was stalling me.

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Doc gets 4 years in prison for multi-million dollar hospice scheme

Eileen Decker, US Attorney
http://www.mcknights.com/news/doc-gets-4-years-in-prison-for-multi-million-dollar-hospice-scheme/article/517678/

A California physician who falsely certified more than 70 patients as terminally ill in order to refer them for hospice care was sentenced to four years in federal prison last week. He will also pay $1.3 million in restitution.

Boyao Huang, 43, is one of two physicians convicted as part of a $8.8 million fraud scheme operated by Covina Hospice Care of Covina, CA. Huang and the second doctor, Sri Wijegoonaratna, 61, conducted “assessments” for patients and certified them as terminally ill, regardless of the assessment's outcome.

At least 79 Medicare and Medi-Cal beneficiaries were deemed terminally ill and referred to CHC, “even though the vast majority of them were not dying,” the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said in a press release.

"This scheme preyed upon dozens of patients and their families who were led to believe that their worst nightmare had come true — that they had life-ending illnesses,” U.S. Attorney Eileen Decker said in the statement.  

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Lawsuit Filed to Stop California Assisted Suicide Law!

The Life Legal Defense Foundation filed a lawsuit today challenging California's assisted suicide law.

The civil rights lawsuit alleges Equal Protection violations of individuals labeled terminally ill and was filed by five doctor and by the American Academy of Medical Ethics (AAME),
 
The Act decriminalizes physician-assisted suicide and instantly removes criminal law, elder abuse, and mental-health legal protections from any individual labeled terminally ill.  By contrast, non-labeled Californians have legal protection that makes it a felony to aid, advise, or encourage another to commit suicide.

The lawsuit asks the court to uphold civil and criminal laws that should apply equally to all Californians, including laws that protect people from self-harm and elder abuse laws.

To see a copy of the plaintiffs' application for a temporary restraining order, click here.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

California's New Assisted Suicide Law: Whose Choice Will it Be?

http://jurist.org/hotline/2015/10/margaret-dore-physician-assisted-suicide.php

JURIST Guest Columnist Margaret Dore argues that a new law to legalize assisted suicide is a recipe for elder abuse and family trauma, and that it will encourage people with years to live to throw away their lives...

California has passed a bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide, which is scheduled to go into effect during 2016. "The End of Life Option Act" was sold as giving patients choice and control at the end of life. The bill, in fact, is about ending the lives of people who are not necessarily dying anytime soon and giving other people the "option" to hurry them along. The bill is a recipe for elder abuse and family trauma.