The article highlights the tragic consequences of California's End-of-Life Option Act for patients like Glenda, who suffer from advanced Alzheimer's disease. Despite the law's intention to offer compassionate choices for terminally ill patients, its strict requirements can prevent those suffering from cognitive decline from accessing life-ending medication. As patients lose their mental capacity, they become unable to make informed requests, resulting in prolonged agony. The author expresses deep frustration at the law's failure to honor the wishes of patients and the promises made to loved ones, further emphasizing the dedicated care from hospice staff despite the systemic shortcomings.
The law's requirements are impossibly restrictive: patients must be mentally competent, make multiple oral requests 15 days apart, provide a written request with two witnesses and self-administer the medication themselves.
By the time these diseases reach their horrific final stages, patients have lost the very mental capacity the law demands. They can't make 'informed decisions.'
California's law has turned me into a liar and her into a victim of state-sanctioned torture. The law that claims to offer 'death with dignity' has abandoned her completely.
The hospice workers, the nurses, the care team - they are angels. They pour their hearts into caring for Glenda.
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