tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4424288185418554374.post6181177502780588894..comments2023-12-23T20:32:03.960-08:00Comments on otherspoon: Reader Response: Death with Dignity is a Recipe for Elder Abuse.Ann Neumannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13690469764844904030noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4424288185418554374.post-85537416324260280172009-10-19T17:11:43.701-07:002009-10-19T17:11:43.701-07:00Ann,
Thank you for taking my call. As we discuss...Ann,<br /><br />Thank you for taking my call. As we discussed, the above commentary on my Bar News article is in error. You asked me to respond in a comment, which I do so now.<br /><br />First, as indicated above, I stand by my analysis.<br /><br />Second, please note that responding letters to the editor ran 5 to 1 in my favor. One of those letters addressing the elder abuse issue is set forth below. (#1)<br /><br />A previous version of the article in another publication generated more letters, with those running 7 to 1. One of those letters addressing the elder abuse issue is set forth below. (#2).<br /><br />Anyone interested in reading my article can find it here: "Death with Dignity: What do we Tell our Clients?, Washington State Bar News, July 2009. http://wsba.org/media/publications/barnews/jul-09+deathwithdignity.htm. <br /><br />Thank you for your consideration.<br /><br />Margaret Dore<br />Law Offices of Margaret K. Dore, P.S.<br />www.margaretdore.com<br />1001 4th Avenue, 44th Floor<br />Seattle, WA 98154<br />206 389 1754<br /><br /><br /><br />#1 Bar News<br /><br />Thank you for the excellent article by Margaret Dore in the July Bar News, “Death With Dignity, What Do We Tell Our Clients? Her analysis was clear, cogent and devastating. Where were we lawyers when this law was being drafted? To read through the legislation is chilling. I don’t know what was most disturbing, that the definition of “Competent” in RCW 70.245.010(3) allows the consent of the patient to be communicated through others - “the patient’s ability to communicate an informed decision…including communication through persons familiar with the patient’s manner of communicating if those persons are available.” (Emphasis added), or the provision that allows a relative and/or heir to be one of the witnesses to the patient’s written request for the lethal dose.<br /><br />This act provides little to no protection to patients from unscrupulous relatives and interested parties to a will or an estate intent on facilitating the administration of a lethal dose sooner rather than later. (See RCW 70.245.)<br /><br />Tracey Rockwell, Federal Way<br />http://wsba.org/media/publications/barnews/sept09-letters+to+editor.htm (Scroll down)<br /><br />#2 King County Bar Bulletin<br /><br /><br />To the Editor:<br /><br />Was it a coincidence that Margaret Dore’s sobering article on Washington’s new assisted-suicide law appeared in the same issue as “The Case of the Defrauded Elder” and “Violent Crime Stats Raise Alarm: Elderly Women Most Vulnerable?” Each article describes the vulnerability of the elderly and ill and the difficulty of protecting even the wealthy and powerful from abuse. Ms. Dore’s article exposes the lack of safeguards in the so-called Death with Dignity Act, which provides a new mechanism for the worst form of abuse by those whose financial interests neatly dovetail with the expedited death of a loved one.<br /><br />Sadly, Ms. Dore’s analysis is accurate. The strategic vagueness of the language in the statute has been largely ignored. With no requirement that the death be witnessed, or that the patient himself/herself administer the lethal dose, or even that the patient be competent at the time of ingesting the lethal dose, the dignified death promised by the statute’s title may be anything but.<br /><br />-Theresa Schrempp <br />Sonkin & Schrempp, PLLC<br />http://www.kcba.org/newsevents/barbulletin/archive/2009/09-07/letters.aspx (scroll down)<br /><br />- - - - - - - - -Margaret Dorehttp://www.margaretdore.comnoreply@blogger.com