Live call-in discussion: A federal lawsuit filed in August aims to expand access to medical aid in dying in Vermont by including nonresidents.
A terminally ill cancer patient from Bridgeport, Conn., and a Middlebury doctor are suing Vermont to ease the law’s residency requirement.
Current law allows Vermont physicians to prescribe medication to residents with a terminal condition to be voluntarily self-administered for the purpose of hastening one's death. Since 2013, when it became legal, more than 100 Vermonters have requested this type of end-of-life care.
This hour, we’ll discuss the state's medical aid in dying law and how it has changed over the years. Earlier this year, lawmakers amended the law to allow patients to request life-ending medication using telemedicine, rather than requiring in-person appointments, among other changes.
The Vermont Attorney General’s Office said it received the complaint and is reviewing it, declining to comment further.
Our guests are:
- Lynda Bluestein, a terminally ill cancer patient from Bridgeport, Conn., and a plaintiff in the lawsuit
- Dr. Diana Barnard, specializes in hospice and palliative care in Middlebury
- Ronald Shems, a partner of Tarrant, Gillies & Shems LLP in Montpelier, who is the local counsel in the case
Broadcast live at noon on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
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