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Explore our coverage of government and politics.

Vermont's End-Of-Life Law, 4 Years On

For four years, terminally ill patients in Vermont have been able to seek a doctor's help in hastening their death. In that time, 29 Vermonters have taken the patient choice prescription.
Pamela Moore
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For four years, terminally ill patients in Vermont have been able to seek a doctor's help in hastening their death. In that time, 29 Vermonters have taken the patient choice prescription.

It's been four years since Vermont started allowing terminally ill patients to seek the help of a doctor to end their own lives. We're looking at how patient choice at the end of life is working in our state, and how Vermonters have used the program since it began in 2013.Twenty-nine Vermonters have used medical aid to hasten their own death since the passage of the law, according to a report from the state Department of Health. In all, 52 cases met the legal criteria of the state's "Patient Choice at End of Life" law, often referred to as Act 39. Forty-three of those were terminal cancer cases, and seven were advanced cases of ALS, sometimes called Lou Gehrig's Disease. 

Betsy Walkerman, president of Patients Choice Vermont, joins the program to discuss how Act 39 has been utilized in Vermont, and what she hears from people choosing this method of end-of-life care. And Ed Paquin with the Vermont Coalition on Disability Rights shares his concerns about the law, especially as it pertains to perceptions of people with disabilities.

Also joining the program is Dr. Robert Tortolani, a retired physician and a former president of the Vermont Medical Society, to discuss how physicians talk to their patients about this issue, and why the society dropped its formal opposition to the law in November.

We'll also hear from Vermont performer Rob Mermin, who shares his story of helping his friend Bill Morancy hasten the end of his life in 2015.

Broadcast Monday, Jan. 15, 2018 at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.

Jane Lindholm is the host, executive producer and creator of But Why: A Podcast For Curious Kids. In addition to her work on our international kids show, she produces special projects for Vermont Public. Until March 2021, she was host and editor of the award-winning Vermont Public program Vermont Edition.
Matt Smith worked for Vermont Public from 2017 to 2023 as managing editor and senior producer of Vermont Edition.
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