Whose Life Is It Anyway? Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) and Its Legal, Medical, and Ethical Conundrums

AGG Healthcare of counsel Alan C. Horowitz published an article in AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care’s publication Caring for the Ages on the legal, medical, and ethical issues involved with medical aid in dying (“MAID”).

Regardless of whether a physician or clinic affiliation supports or opposes MAID, Alan provides the following recommendations:

• Clarify your organization’s (or practice’s) position, consistent with state law.
• Have appropriate written policies and procedures in place.
• Educate all involved staff.
• Let prospective patients, especially hospice patients, know your policy in advance of admission.
• Seek input from your facility’s ethics and compliance committees, and quality assessment and assurance committees (required for skilled nursing facilities pursuant to 42 C.F.R. §§ 483.85 and 483.75, respectively).
• Maintain thorough documentation regarding patients’ decision-making capacity (DMC), including discussions of alternatives such as palliative care as well as a reference to the DMC determination by the consulting physician.
• Seek competent legal advice, if appropriate.

To read the full article, please click here.