end of life care

Valeant Pharmaceuticals has been the focus of a congressional investigation into high drug prices. .

Drug Company Jacks Up Cost Of Aid-In-Dying Medication

4:57pm March 23, 2016

by April Dembosky

Seconal used to cost less than $200 a bottle. After Valeant Pharmaceuticals bought the medication, the cost rose to $3,000. Advocates for aid in dying say that's a burden for the terminally ill.

Debbie Ziegler holds a photo of her late daughter, Brittany Maynard, while speaking to the media in September after the passage of California's

California To Permit Medically Assisted Suicide As Of June 9

7:30pm March 10, 2016

by Lisa Aliferis

Terminally ill Californians will legally be able to get medicine from doctors to end their own lives. The end of the state's special legislative session Thursday made it official.

The care an older patient receives often doesn't match what the person wants.

Health Care For Seniors Often Goes Beyond Their Desires

4:53pm March 08, 2016

by Michelle Andrews

Research from the Dartmouth Atlas Project identifies care that older people receive that doesn't match clinical guidelines or, often, patients' own preferences.

Van Zyl and Garcia Flores hold hands as van Zyl promises to do everything she can to ease his pain and control symptoms.

A Palliative Care Doctor Weighs California's New Aid-In-Dying Law

4:23pm January 04, 2016

by Angus Chen

This year, California becomes the fifth state to legalize lethal drug prescriptions for terminally ill patients. Renee Montagne talks to Carin van Zyl, a palliative care doctor, about the options.

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What seemed like a burden can become a gift.

After The Cranberries And Pie, Take Time To Talk About Death

8:34am November 27, 2015

by Nancy Shute

Advance directives don't guarantee that a person's wishes for end-of-life care will always be honored. Some states let people use physician orders that override legal requirements to perform CPR.

Omar looks through Kai's photo book. The charges for the infant's six months of care in the neonatal intensive care unit totaled about $11 million, according to the family, though their insurer very likely negotiated a lower rate.

An Ill Newborn, A Loving Family And A Litany Of Wrenching Choices

6:01pm November 13, 2015

by Jenny Gold

As families consider how far to push an infant's medical care, a chasm can open between the parents' hopes and what doctors and nurses consider realistic. How do you measure a baby's quality of life?

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California Doctors Get Advice On How To Provide Aid In Dying

4:16pm October 13, 2015

by April Dembosky

Now that California has legalized aid in dying, doctors there need to know what to say to patients. They're getting help from doctors in Oregon, who have been answering these questions for decades.

Having a loved one take at least two weeks off work increased the likelihood that terminally ill cancer patients could die at home.

To Die At Home, It Helps To Have Someone Who Can Take Time Off Work

11:55am October 09, 2015

by Lynne Shallcross

A lot of things can affect whether a person can die at home as wished rather than in a hospital. One is whether a relative is able to take more than a few days off work to care for them.

Despite Sweeping Aid-In-Dying Law, Few Will Have That Option

10:00am October 09, 2015

by Robin Marantz Henig

People with uncertain prognoses or dementia can't end their lives under California's new medical aid in dying law. Proponents say those limits reflect the uncertainties of death, and of politics.

Jo Ann Farwell, a retired social worker, has a brain tumor; she wanted to make sure her sons were clear about her end-of-life wishes. So, after talking with her doctor, she filled out a form that Oregon provides to ease those family conversations.

Medicare Says Doctors Should Get Paid To Discuss End-Of-Life Issues

2:05pm August 19, 2015

After a six-year delay, Medicare proposes to reimburse doctors who hold end-of-life discussions with Medicare patients. The federal program is now soliciting public comments on the idea.

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