Plan your death well

Dr. Bruce Wilson

The subject of a person’s right to die is a fevered conversation, especially in the United States. With Montana’s legalization of physician-assisted suicide in 2010, a whole new debate and conversation has been opened to bring answers to the contentious –but important—topic of one’s decision to take their own life.

Last week, I spoke with cardiologist and former hospice director Doctor Bruce Wilson about the social, religious, and cultural factors regarding this sensitive issue. The ethical debate of physician-assisted suicide is one that is personal and intimate, and Dr. Wilson quite eloquently explained the depth of one’s decision to take their own life for medical purposes. Today, he returns to explain the criteria necessary before a person is able to take this step.

This week, we also discuss the critically important topic of end-of-life planning, and Dr. Wilson references Sidney Wanzer’s To Die Well as a guide for individuals in ensuring that doctors, nurses and family members are able to carry out their final wishes when the time comes.

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