Description Despite most patients’ preferences to die at home among their loved ones, many with end-stage cancer, heart failure, and other advanced illnesses spend their last days in the hospital. Many clinicians resist telling patients that treatments are not working or that their prognosis is poor, fearful of destroying their hopes for cure. Difficult but…
By Beatrice Brown Last month, Kaiser Health News (KHN) told the story of Susan Saran, a woman diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. According to KHN, Saran consulted a lawyer and signed an advance directive for dementia after experiencing two brain hemorrhages in 2018. The document directs caregivers to withhold hand feeding and fluids at the end…
By Adriana Krasniansky This article is part of a four-part series that researches how robotics are being developed for aging care and investigates their ethical implications. In our first article, we explored emotional companion robots, which soothe and comfort patients experiencing loneliness, depression, or diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Today, we look at voice assistants and…
By Adriana Krasniansky This article is the first post in a four-part series looking at robots being developed for aging care, as well as their ethical implications. In this first article, we explore the rise of emotional companion robots such as the now-famous Paro, which are designed to soothe and comfort. What are Emotional Companion…
A case of sensitive health news delivered via telemedicine incites questions about the use of technology in critical care conversations.
Age-based criteria can be not only legal but also ethically acceptable and even desirable.
By Nicolas Terry and Frank Pasquale Subscribe to TWIHL here! Our guest this week is Thaddeus Mason Pope, Director of the Health Law Institute and Professor of Law at Mitchell Hamline School of Law. Thad is also a Ph.D. with multiple global academic posts. This week we discuss grave and complex problems in end of life care, focusing on…
Our Aging Brains: Decision-making, Fraud, and Undue Influence April 27, 2018 7:30 AM – 12:30 PM Wasserstein Hall, Milstein East (2036) Harvard Law School, 1585 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA With over 70 million Baby Boomers retiring, elder financial exploitation has been labeled the “Crime of the 21st Century.” In this half-day event, we will explore…
Our Aging Brains: Decision-making, Fraud, and Undue Influence April 27, 2018 7:30 AM – 12:30 PM Wasserstein Hall, Milstein East (2036) Harvard Law School, 1585 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA With over 70 million Baby Boomers retiring, elder financial exploitation has been labeled the “Crime of the 21st Century.” In this half-day event, we will explore…
The Development and Certification of Decision Aids: Promoting Shared Decision-Making for Patients with Serious Illness April 18, 2018 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM Wasserstein Hall, Milstein East AB (2036) Harvard Law School, 1585 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA Decision aids can be highly-effective tools to promote shared decision making and support patients in becoming engaged participants…
