Physician-assisted death law creates dialogue between doctors and patients.
The Los Angeles Times recently reported an unexpected benefit of the physician-assisted death law in California, according to the Los Angeles Times in “There’s an unforeseen benefit to California’s physician-assisted death law.”
One thing the law does is force physicians to talk to their patients about why they want to end their own lives.
That often leads to discussion about pain, quality of care, and what the patient would prefer happen.
What doctors have found is that some of the assumptions they make about what is good for patients are inaccurate.
The patients would prefer that they be treated differently at the end of their lives.
Doctors and other health workers can use that information to better treat the patient.
Even if the individual patient still prefers to end his or her own life, the information can be used to improve treatment for other people.
Reference: Los Angeles Times (Aug. 21, 2017) “There’s an unforeseen benefit to California’s physician-assisted death law.”
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