To Die Well

When should futile medical treatment be stopped? When and how can death be hastened? This book provides information about what patients should expect of their doctors, including the right to enough pain control even if it shortens life. It also explains the legal ways to hasten death that are possible for anyone.

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When should futile medical treatment be stopped? When and how can death be hastened? How can each of us keep control of these decisions? The knowledge provided in this book is both comforting and powerful. Patients who know their right to refuse treatment and the legal ways to bring about death if pain or distress cannot be alleviated will be spared the frightening helplessness that can rob their last days of meaning and connection. Drs. Wanzer and Glenmullen do not shy from controversy. They make clear what patients should expect of their doctors, including the right to enough pain control even if it shortens life. They also explain the legal ways to hasten death that are possible for anyone, and those that require a doctor's help. Compassion and reassurance blend with direct, honest fact in this book that every one of us should have before it is needed for ourselves or our families.