Ambivalence about End of Life Planning and Assisted Suicide

In 2012, American Medical News reported two not wholly unrelated articles. One article was about the Supreme Court of Georgia striking down a law intended to prevent assisted suicide. The other article reported a survey in California that showed that 76% of patients neglect end of life planning but 86% believe it’s important to put end of life wishes in writing, and only 8% of patients remember being asked by physicians about their end of life wishes. John Carney, president and CEO of the Center, discusses the implications of the two stories. (February 29, 2012)