by Cassandra Sutherland, MPH, Client Services Manager I write this on the last day of March, a month that brought ninety new clients to End of Life Washington (EOLWA). People are seeking support from EOLWA at unprecedented levels. Weekly, EOLWA is serving more clients...
by Chris Fruitrich, Volunteer Storyteller / Client Advisor Often when people are ready to die, it’s hard to find a doctor. Though that may appear unexpected and contradictory, it is sorrowful for many dying patients. Increasingly, people with terminal conditions are...
by Kris Shankar, Volunteer Storyteller Below is a first-hand account of Anjanette G.’s experience helping her brother, Steve, find a provider. My brother Steve was a triathlete and loved jazz music. At every opportunity, he would take his three dogs down to the...
by Bob Free, JD, Board President Although Representative Skyler Rude’s House Bill 1141 did not advance out of the Senate Health and Long Term Care Committee this legislative session, we remain hopeful that the Legislature will eventually take steps to reduce the...
End of Life Washington, past, present, and future is deeply thankful for ALL of the ways that Sheila Cook helped to advance end-of-life choices and aid in dying. On April 12th, Sheila’s 91st birthday, she will die using the Death with Dignity Act that she helped...
Washington’s Death with Dignity Act, in effect since 2009, permits physicians who support the law to prescribe an aid-in-dying medication after a complex process of requests and waiting periods. After the law had been in effect for some time, it was found that some...
Bipartisan vote shows commitment to ensuring terminally ill adults have the option for a peaceful death (Olympia, WA) Compassion & Choices Action Network and End of Life Washington praised the Washington House of Representatives for passing ESHB 1141, the...
If we are lucky, once or twice in our lives we’ll cross paths with someone so remarkable, our lives are changed forever. And if we’re truly fortunate, that person will have paved the way for others to carry on their warmth and beauty after they’re gone. Our friend,...
In mid-2017, 85-year-old Richard Levy started experiencing pain in his chest. Diagnosed with lung cancer, Richard underwent surgery to remove part of his lung that fall, but it was a losing battle. Imaging showed that the cancer was spreading fast – it was...
Lee Bell wanted to die. He wanted to die his way. He wanted to die with dignity. He wanted to snuff out his metastatic prostate cancer in the process. Instead, because of an arbitrary pause in the protocol for Washington’s Death with Dignity Law, Lee Bell was pushed...
