Friday, February 03, 2006
Palliative Care Bill in State Senate
One of our local docs sends me this note:
I remain active as a Chaplain at the Hospice of St. John and became involved in the group "Citizens & Physicians Concerned About Palliative Care" three years ago. When Ken Salazar was our Attorney General we interviewed him and he was very eager to promote this project in response to interference that has grown nationwide creating reluctance for many physicians to safely prescribe appropriate medications for end-of-life care, according to the highest standards established by Hospice and Palliative Care centers nationally.
You are doubless aware of this bill and I would like you to discuss this material with your colleagues for their opinions and advice. Here is info on the status of the bill. [Senate Bill 06-102] The attachments include a copy of the bill, the latest support letter prepared by our lobbyist, Edie Busam, and a tally of the Legislators.
Last week Edie got the nod from Focus On The Family, which was forwarded to the El Paso County Medical Society. The Colorado Council of Churches will also support. In view of the Supreme Court's recent ruling on the Oregon Death With Dignity law, this bill is quite timely, promoting the ethical support for appropriate end-of-life care. We think this will actually assure people that they DO NOT have to consider physician-assisted death. This could actually set a national precedent in providing the best of end-of-life care with the major focus on ethically grounded Palliative and Hospice Care.
Share this data with anyone and let me know your toughts. Thanks for taking the time to study it.
Send me reponses, or to jimnjan_1999 at yahoo dot com who sent this to me.
Ed note: It has always seemed to me that our profession's tendency to abandon patients who don't have any more effective treatments, leads directly to the call for assisted suicide. Who wants to die alone and in pain?
I'm not an expert or a lawyer but I do support efforts to make end-of-life care truly caring. Anything that would in fact take the wind out of the sails of the suicide proponents can't be all bad!
I remain active as a Chaplain at the Hospice of St. John and became involved in the group "Citizens & Physicians Concerned About Palliative Care" three years ago. When Ken Salazar was our Attorney General we interviewed him and he was very eager to promote this project in response to interference that has grown nationwide creating reluctance for many physicians to safely prescribe appropriate medications for end-of-life care, according to the highest standards established by Hospice and Palliative Care centers nationally.
You are doubless aware of this bill and I would like you to discuss this material with your colleagues for their opinions and advice. Here is info on the status of the bill. [Senate Bill 06-102] The attachments include a copy of the bill, the latest support letter prepared by our lobbyist, Edie Busam, and a tally of the Legislators.
Last week Edie got the nod from Focus On The Family, which was forwarded to the El Paso County Medical Society. The Colorado Council of Churches will also support. In view of the Supreme Court's recent ruling on the Oregon Death With Dignity law, this bill is quite timely, promoting the ethical support for appropriate end-of-life care. We think this will actually assure people that they DO NOT have to consider physician-assisted death. This could actually set a national precedent in providing the best of end-of-life care with the major focus on ethically grounded Palliative and Hospice Care.
Share this data with anyone and let me know your toughts. Thanks for taking the time to study it.
Send me reponses, or to jimnjan_1999 at yahoo dot com who sent this to me.
Ed note: It has always seemed to me that our profession's tendency to abandon patients who don't have any more effective treatments, leads directly to the call for assisted suicide. Who wants to die alone and in pain?
I'm not an expert or a lawyer but I do support efforts to make end-of-life care truly caring. Anything that would in fact take the wind out of the sails of the suicide proponents can't be all bad!
