This book is by Diane Rehm, who many National Public Radio listeners will be familiar with. The book was published in 2020 when the author was 81 years old. The book is about dying and death and the options available to those, When My Time Comes. The book is clearly the author’s contemplation of the end of her life.
It is a good book and offers a lot of thoughtful interviews with doctors, religious leaders, terminally ill patients, hospice worker and families. This isn’t a business book on a business topic, it is more important than that.
I deal with business owners, including when they plan the exit from their businesses. This book isn’t about that. This is about the final exit.
Much of the book is devoted to the issues around medical aid-in-dying. In the U.S., Oregon was the pioneer with Washington State adopting a similar law a few years later. California adopted their own law recently, making nine states that allow medical aid-in-dying. Internationally, Switzerland has a much more far-reaching approach in their law, as does Canada.
There are all kinds of safeguards around abuse of the law. Patients must have diagnoses from two doctors that they have a terminal illness and have less than six months to live. Those who would choose medical aid-in-dying must self-administer the medications and they are all taken orally. Sometimes people are physically unable to take the medicines and they are so unpalatable that they are difficult to take for that reason. But the point of requiring the person to take the medications orally is consent.
Of course, there are many fraught issues in this area. The book does a balanced job of considering these issues, including interviews with several representatives of the Catholic Church, the main opponent to adoption of these laws.
The laws in the U.S. all require a person to be terminally ill but of sound mind. The person must consent. For those who are likely to become mentally impaired first—dementia or Alzheimer’s—these laws are no help and create a real dilemma.
This book is well written and though provoking, so I recommend it. But as you might guess, it isn’t uplifting or inspiring. On the contrary, it was pretty depressing at times. You’re not going to come away with a list of action items but you’re going to think.
We’re all going to die. Anybody reading this has experienced the death of family members, loved ones and friends. You’ve probably looked on others and thought you don’t want to die the way they did. I certainly feel that way about both my parents.
My personal feeling about this is, it is a good thing to contemplate and think about how you want your death to be, to the extent you can or want to control it. It’s a tough thing to do but think about it.
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