For patients with terminal cancer who have exhausted all treatment options, being as comfortable and relaxed as possible during their final days often becomes a priority. Staying out of the hospital may be key to attaining that frame of mind, a new study suggests.
Charles Burns steadies himself, using the arms of his wheelchair, before pushing up into a standing position.
A Navy veteran gets his final wish, to see his son become a Marine. CNN's Sarah Hoye reports.
The Duchess of Cambridge gave her first official public address Monday, speaking against a backdrop of children's drawings on brightly colored walls.
The Netherlands' first ever clinic for assisted suicide and euthanasia has opened and includes a mobile service for those who wish to die at home.
Georgia's Supreme Court on Monday unanimously struck down the state's assisted suicide law, a decision that results in the dismissal of criminal charges against four members of an assisted suicide network.
No one has come out yet and explicitly suggested that old folks like me (I am about to turn 83) should be treated the way the Eskimos, as folklore has it, used to treat theirs: put on an ice floe and left to float away into the sunset. We are, however, coming dangerously close.
The late, controversial doctor's invention aided in the suicide of about 130 people
The machine used by the late Dr. Jack Kevorkian in more than 100 assisted suicides will be among the items up for sale later this month, the auctioneer and his estate announced.
Joseph Maraachli, the infant who became the center of an international end-of-life debate, died peacefully in his sleep at his Windsor, Ontario, home, a spokesperson for the family said Wednesday.
James Powell could barely speak on the day he died; cancer had confined him to bed and heavy painkillers left him only semi-lucid. Yet the mood was almost celebratory as 25 people -- family, friends and volunteers -- gathered in a large living room to tell stories and say goodbye on the day Powell chose to end his suffering.
CNN's Gary Tuchman reports on the life and legacy of Dr. Jack Kevorkian.
Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the Michigan pathologist who put assisted suicide on the world's medical ethics stage, died early Friday, according to a spokesman with Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan. He was 83.
People.com: Jack Kevorkian Diesupdated: Fri Jun 03 2011 17:50:00
Nicknamed "Dr. Death" for his controversial advocacy of assisted suicide died early Friday
Assisted-suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian has been hospitalized in Michigan for pneumonia and a kidney-related ailment, his attorney said Thursday.
Joseph Maraachli, the infant whose family refused to accept a recommendation by a Canadian hospital to remove the boy's breathing tube and allow him to die, is now breathing on his own without the aid of a mechanical ventilator.
From February: A court orders a hospital to remove the breathing tube of a terminally ill infant.
The tiny conference room was cold. My heart was beating fast. I was scared to sign the papers and I tried to quell my unremitting hot stream of tears.
Do you think it is worthwhile to have a psychiatric advance directive?
A Canadian family fighting to keep their 13-month-old son on a breathing tube says they have been denied a request to have him transferred to a hospital in Michigan.
New Medicare regulations that reimburse doctors for discussing end-of-life options renews "death panel" fears.
Thinking about death can be frightening, no matter your age or medical condition. As we get older, the reality of our own mortality tends to come into clearer focus; this doesn't make talking about death or life-sustaining treatments any less frightening though.
Elizabeth Edwards died Tuesday, after doctors had told her further cancer treatment would be "unproductive." She was at home, surrounded by people who loved her.
After a hard-fought battle with breast cancer, Elizabeth Edwards passed away on Tuesday. CNN's Anderson Cooper reports.
End of life conversations don't have to be horrible. "Ask the Doc" has suggestions on how to get started.
Barack Levin recently showed his children where the kidneys are in a human anatomy book, trying to explain why their daddy has been taking so many pills and feeling so tired.
Theresa Brown's thoughtful essay on end-of-life care reminded me of a recent clinical encounter. It was a hot July afternoon when I found myself in a quiet hospital lounge, having "the family discussion" with a patient newly admitted to my medical service, a sweet middle-aged woman whose lung cancer had spread so extensively that it now encircled the vital vessels of her chest.
A German court on Friday absolved a women who cut the feeding tube of her mother, who was in a persistent vegetative state, saying passive assisted suicide is legal in cases where the patient has expressed the desire to die.
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan once believed a federal law to ban physician-assisted suicide was a "fairly terrible idea." The handwritten remarks were part of more than 46,000 documents released Friday, as Senate lawmakers prepare for confirmation hearings for the 50-year-old Kagan.
In his essay "The Myth of Sisyphus," Albert Camus writes, "Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy." It is not a question we like to think about.
The former beauty queen stared into the camera, but this was no pageant or performance. She looked frail and thin, and her hair was rumpled. But Eva Markvoort smiled weakly.
Congressman Earl Blumenauer says he's just a regular fellow "trying to get things accomplished." As a result, the Oregon Democrat tells me, he spends much of his time "looking for ideas that can bring people together -- simple, straightforward ideas that would help people and their families."
It has long been the final destination for terminally ill patients who want to end their lives, offering what many consider to be a dignified way out of their suffering.
For three months, Phyllis Ross watched her husband waste away in his hospital bed and succumb to pancreatic cancer.
Britain's high court rules in favor of Debbie Purdy in her assisted suicide case. CNN's Diana Magnay reports.
The director of public prosecutions in Britain issued a new policy on assisted suicide Wednesday, making clear at what point he believes people should face charges if they help a loved one go abroad to die.
An Australian quadriplegic who won the right to refuse food and water died Monday of an upper respiratory infection, his brother and a right-to-die advocate said.
Former truck driver Robert Baxter died in December, a victim of leukemia. But the legal battle over his death -- and whether he had the right, along with his doctors, to hasten it -- continues.
CNN's Jessica Yellin reports on Rep. Allen Boyd's opposition to current health care legislation.
Are you confused by all the back and forth on health care reform? Here's a guide to some of the terms commonly tossed about in the debate.
An Australian high court ruled Friday that a quadriplegic man has the right to refuse food and water and can be allowed to die, a rare legal finding that some see as a major victory for right-to-die campaigners.
The heated national debate on health care reform has taken an unusual turn, with many eyes focused on a minor provision regarding end-of-life care embedded in the House bill.
A British woman won a major legal victory Thursday in her fight to die with her husband by her side if she travels abroad for assisted suicide.
Neither of Dr. Arthur Kellerman's parents wanted to die in a hospital. His father had metastatic cancer and his mother had had multiple strokes, and Kellerman wanted to respect their wishes about the ends of their lives.
A 66-year-old woman with stage 4 pancreatic cancer became the first person to use Washington's assisted suicide law, a nonprofit organization announced Friday.
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