Death with Dignity provides an in-depth look at how we die in America today. You'll learn about the shortcomings of our end-of-life system. You’ll learn about terminal torture in hospitals and ICUs and about the alternatives: hospice and palliative care. With laser-sharp focus, Orfali scrutinizes the good, the bad, and the ugly. He makes a strong case that assisted dying complements hospice. By providing both, Oregon now has the best palliative-care system in America. Reading this book may help you or someone you care about navigate this strange landscape we call “end of life.” It can be your gentle and informed guide to “a good death” in the age of hospice and high-tech medical intervention. 

 
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The free chapters are marked in blue in the Table of Contents below:
Introduction                                                                              i

Chapter 1:  Father to Son: “Please, Kill Me”                     1

Keith Olbermann: "My Father Asked Me to Kill Him"
The Unlikely Flare-Gun Killer                                         
What Can Be Done?                                                     
Passive Euthanasia: How Many of Us Die                   
Slow Euthanasia: How the Lucky Ones Die                 
Involuntary Euthanasia: How Our Pets Die                 
Voluntary Euthanasia: How Some Would Like to Die     
What the Polls Say
The Bottom Line: Whose Death Is It Anyway?

Chapter 2: My Life, My Death, My Choice                         17 
                       
Jeri Receives Her Final Notice                                      
She Had a Dream: Dying, Jeri’s Way                               
Do-It-Yourself Dying With Help From the Internet              
Her Letter to Compassion & Choices                              
Help, I Need Somebody                                                     
When Lovers Become Killers                                               
Killing Yourself While You Still Can                                      
You Waited Too Long                                                      
Not Too Early and Not Too Late                                     
Unnecessary Anxiety and Stress                                    
How Much Physician Assistance?                                      
Lessons Learned  
                                                           
Chapter 3: The Way of Hospice and Palliative Care       35
    
Slow Dying: Fighting Till the End                                     
Most of Us Die in Hospitals                                             
ICUs and Nursing Homes: The “Bad Deaths”             
The Modern Torture Chambers                                     
Hospice: Another Way to Die                                              
Origins of Hospice and Palliative Care                             
The So-Called “Death Panels”                                     
First Conversation: How Do I Protect Myself?             
Second Conversation: When Do I Stop Fighting?              
Third Conversation: Where Do I Die?                              
Hospice: Not for Everyone                                              
Pain Management: A Critical Issue                                     
Palliative Sedation: Can You Depend on It?                      
Hospice: Yes, There Is Unbearable Pain                    
Jeri’s Good Death, Hospice Style                                     
Hospice: Superb, but Suboptimal                                     
Hospice: The Report Card                                            
Hospice and the Nembutal: The Case for Synergy     
Nembutal or Palliative Sedation: The Ethics                      
Nembutal or Palliative Sedation: Which Is Better?             
Nembutal and Palliative Care: The Synergy                  
Modest Proposal for Palliative Sedation: Call 911             
Bottom Line  
 
                                                               
Chapter 4: Euthanasia: Modern Milestones                     81
             
Major U.S. Milestones                                                    
Major European Milestones                                            
Canada and Australia: Dead Ends?  
                          
Chapter 5: Euthanasia in the Real World                          93
           
How Do I Die? The Oregon Conversation                   
Oregon: A Finely-Tuned Balancing Act                           
Physician-Assisted Dying, Oregon Style                   
Oregon’s Death with Dignity: Mrs. Dunn’s Death            
Oregon: A System That Works                                  
Washington’s Learning Curve                                        
Netherlands: The Doctor-Patient Relationship         
Netherlands: “Euthanasia Talk”                                  
Netherlands: Death by Euthanasia                                
Netherlands: Top-Notch Palliative Care                          
Netherlands: No More Secrets                              
Netherlands: Is Euthanasia Slippery?                         
Netherlands: Is Involuntary Euthanasia Slippery?          
Netherlands: Is Palliative Sedation Slippery?                 
Netherlands: Slippery Slope for the Vulnerable?          
Netherlands’ Lesson: “Let the Doctors Do It”                 
The Bottom Line: Oregon It Is  
 
                                       
Chapter 6: The Great Debate                                              125
                               
Who Is Against Physician-Assisted Dying?                
The Law: Murder vs. Suicide                                       
Is It Ordinary Suicide?                                                
Sanctity of Life: Everyone’s First Choice                 
Sanctity of Life: The Societal Exceptions                 
Sanctity of Life: Whose Life Is It?                                
Sanctity of Life: The Pro-Life Vitalists                        
Sanctity of Life: Pro-Life vs. Palliative Care                
Sanctity of Life: The Clash of Paradigms                 
Sanctity of Life: Which Way, Catholic Church?         
Sanctity of Life: Doctors Must Not Kill                       
Slippery Slopes: FUD vs. Real Issues                        
Who Is the FUD Targeting?                                         
The Reformers: “First, Fix the System”                         
Bottom Line  
 
                                                             
Chapter 7: Point and Counterpoint                                    147
                
Slippery Slope to Nazi Eugenics?                                
Slippery Slope for Minorities and the Poor?                
Slippery Slope for the Elderly?                                
Slippery Slope for the Disabled?                               
Does It Discriminate Against the Disabled?                
Does It Discriminate Against the Non-Terminal?        
Does It Discriminate Against Alzheimer Patients?         
Will It Be Used to Ration Health Care?                         
Rationing: The Elephant in the Room                        
Does It Put Medicine on a Slippery Slope?                
Does It Cause Doctors to Undervalue Life?               
Does It Undermine the Doctor-Patient Trust?        
Does It Violate the Hippocratic Oath?                        
Does It Undermine Palliative Care?                     
Is Taking Control of Your Death Narcissistic?        
Can Right to Die Turn Into Duty to Die?                        
Is There a Patriotic Duty to Die?                                 
Will Grandma Feel She Has a Duty to Die?                
Will Grandma Be Killed for the Inheritance?                 
Don’t Worry, We’ve Got You Covered                        
Hospice Is All You Need                                                 
Does It Devalue Human Life?                                        
Does It Benefit Only the Few?                                
Could There Be a Cure on the Horizon?                
Could There Be a Last-Minute Miracle?                        
Could There Be a Misdiagnosis?                                                                          
Is the Decision Truly Voluntary?                                
Is Oregon Too Good to Be True?                                
Bottom Line  
                                                              
Chapter 8: Leave It to the Market: The Exit Pill                 201
  
Euthanasia Underground: When Patients Fail         
Euthanasia Underground: When Doctors Fail         
Ending the Prohibition: The Exit Pill Way                         
Ending the Prohibition: The Legalization Route         
The Legislative Work Ahead                                         
In the Name of Mercy, End This Cruel Prohibition 
        
Find Out More                                                                          219
                                
Acknowledgments                                                                  231



 






 















             Table of Contents.
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