Compassion & Choices Wednesday presented retiring U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) with an award for his “exceptional and vital contributions to the end-of-life care movement” during his nearly 30 years in Congress since 1996.

Jon Eisenberg quite literally wrote the book on the Terri Schiavo case. Michael Schiavo, a Florida man, battled all the way to the Supreme Court to have the feeding tube removed for his wife Terri. Terri Schiavo was a 41-year-old woman who suffered cardiac arrest caused by an eating disorder and existed in a permanent vegetative state for 15 years before her death on March 31, 2005. When Terri’s family fought the decision to remove the feeding tube, their effort became the most publicized end-of-life case at that time. 

Compassion & Choices advocates and staff are participating in conferences, events and virtual webinars to share the organization’s mission with healthcare professionals and the public. These events are invaluable opportunities to encourage professionals in the end-of-life care world to participate in patient-centered care and advocate for the full range of end-of-life options for their patients.