The Right to Choose Death - 40 Years Later

Yesterday, I happened to read a New York Times story that was published exactly 40 years ago this week:  "The Right to Choose Death."  Remarkable is that, despite the birth and growth of bioethics, very little has changed.  The article notes:  "One of the most potent fears of the aging . . . is that they may be subjected to a lingering and painful death or that their bodies may go on living after their minds and spirits have ceased . . . ."  This is still true today.  

The article discusses the use of living wills before they became legally binding in the latter half of the 1970s.  Notably, even this early, informal use of advance directive still had benefits, because they "removed the burden of guilt from doctors and relatives who might otherwise feel compelled to demand prolonged treatment even in cases that are considered hopeless."  With the recent move from a transactional to a communications approach to advance care planning, it sometimes seems as if we are coming full circle.