In Oregon and Washington, doctor could have closed the deal with a lethal prescription - who would have known?

Doctor wrote himself into 102-year-old patient's will: suit

http://nypost.com/2014/10/16/doctor-wrote-himself-into-102-year-old-patients-will-suit/

A prominent New York doctor swindled a 102-year-old Park Avenue patient, writing himself into her will and installing health care aides who mistreat the widow, a new lawsuit charges.

Donna Spears, a longtime friend of centenarian Helen Schlesinger, claims in her Manhattan civil suit that New York-Presbyterian physician Dr. Lawson Moyer has broken the law by both treating the 470 Park Ave. resident and appointing himself as her power of attorney.

“Moyer is making decisions for Helen that are not in her best interests,” Spears says in the suit.

Spears, of Wall Township, NJ, says she has known Schlesinger for 65 years. The frail woman, whose husband died in the 1950s, cannot get around on her own and requires 24-hour care.

In a 2003 will, Spears and a family member were designated to inherit the woman’s entire multimillion-dollar estate — save for a $10,000 bequest to the Salvation Army.

But shortly after Moyer became Schlesinger’s primary care doctor in 2010, the suit says, Schlesinger signed a new document “against [her] wishes” that left him $100,000, slashed Spears’ share to $25,000 and gave the rest to various charities.

Spears says Moyer hired nurses who have neglected and mentally abused the childless widow.

Spears wants a judge to appoint a guardian for Schlesinger.


Moyer did not return calls for comment.

What will happen to Brittany Maynard?

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

The suicide advocacy group, Compassion & Choices, is running a public relations campaign featuring the story of Brittany Maynard, a 29 year old woman with a brain tumor.  According to media reports, she intends to take her life under Oregon's assisted suicide law in the near future.[1]

Lovelle Svart

In 2007, there was a similar case in Oregon involving Lovelle Svart, which was also promoted by Compassion & Choices.  Svart, who had cancer, died at the end of a party in which she had been having a great time.  The party was reported in the Seattle Times, which described her as being in control.[2]  When it was time for her to die, however, she engaged in stalling behaviors ("a hugging line" and a cigarette break).  There was also this exchange between her and George Eighmey, a member of Compassion & Choices:

“Is this what you want?”

 “Actually, I’d like to go on partying,” Lovelle replied, laughing before turning serious. "But yes." 

The situation was similar to a wedding when it’s time to take your vows.  Everyone is watching and it's the thing to do.  Even if you're having second thoughts or would rather “go on partying,” you go forward.  If Eighmey had wanted to give her an out, he could have said:

“You're having so much fun, you don’t have to do this today or even next week.”

Instead, he closed her by guiding her to take the lethal dose, which killed her.

Will Ms. Maynard get her choice?

It may be hard to know.

Compassion & Choices, regardless, will have an interest in getting the best promotional material possible from her death.

* * *

[1]  Neal Colgrass, Newser staff, October 7, 2014, https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/29-year-old-woman_-why-im-taking-my-own-life.pdf 
[2] Don Colburn, “Last day of life all planned out, down to the polka,” October 26, 2007, available at http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2003918100_suicide02.html

"This is how society will pay you back? With non-voluntary or involuntary euthanasia?"

http://missoulian.com/news/opinion/mailbag/assisted-suicide-discussion-veering-into-talk-of-terminating-lives-of/article_87332fc0-4fe8-11e4-94f5-632029a45aed.html

I am a lawyer in Washington State, where assisted suicide is legal. Our law was passed by a deceptive ballot measure spearheaded by Compassion & Choices. Voters were promised that only the patient would be allowed to administer the lethal dose, which is false. Our law does say that the patient may self-administer the lethal dose, but there is no language saying that administration must be by self-administration. For more information, please go here:  https://www.kcba.org/newsevents/barbulletin/BView.aspx?Month=05&Year=2009&AID=article5.htm

Once assisted suicide is legal, there is pressure to expand. For example, here in Washington State, we have had “trial balloon” proposals to expand our law to non-terminal people. For me, the most disturbing one was a casual discussion in our largest paper suggesting euthanasia for people who didn’t save enough money for their old age. So, if you worked hard all your life, paid your taxes, and your pension plan went broke, this is how society will pay you back? With non-voluntary or involuntary euthanasia?

To view a copy of the newspaper column, please go here: https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/jerry-large_001.pdf.

Protect yourselves and your families. Don’t let assisted suicide become legal in Montana.

Margaret Dore, president,
Choice is an Illusion,
Seattle, Washington

Assisters Can Have Their Own Agenda

http://ravallirepublic.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_d9ec8917-b025-5aad-97dd-0520559fde00.html

Greed, personal motives can influence 'choice' to commit assisted suicide . . .

A Roundup man was recently charged with “aiding or soliciting suicide” of a 16-year-old girl here in Montana. His apparent motive was to prevent her testimony against him in another matter, i.e., by getting her to kill herself. According to an Associate Press article, he coerced her to actually take steps towards that goal, which fortunately did not result in her death. See http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/convicted-rapist-charged-with-aiding-or-soliciting-suicide-of-victim/article_65c2f39c-ae01-5104-a279-da45b352ef42.html

Similarly, in Minnesota, a former nurse was recently convicted of assisting a young man to kill himself. Both the nurse and the Roundup man had used webcams to communicate with their victims. The nurse’s reported motive was the “thrill of the chase.” See http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/suicideobsessed-us-nurse-convicted-of-helping-coventry-man-kill-himself-9722534.html.

These stories illustrates a fundamental problem with legalizing assisted suicide. The assisting person can have his or her own agenda to encourage a person to kill themselves. The “choice” will not necessarily be that of the victim/patient.

In my practice, where I have a high percentage of older patients, I have witnessed greed by family members over inheritances, including vicious battles over the death bed. This same motive of greed could lead to a coerced suicide, especially if assisted suicide were legalized in our state.

Let’s keep legal assisted suicide out of Montana.

Annie Bukacek,
Kalispell