Medical aid in dying is currently authorized in Hawai‘i. Legislation to improve the Our Care, Our Choice Act (OCOCA) passed and was signed by Governor Josh Green on June 2, 2023. Read about the improvements here.
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This month, Hawaii and California departments of health released 2019 annual reports on their respective medical aid-in-dying laws. These reports provide data on how many people utilized medical aid in dying, how many doctors wrote prescriptions and other critical information related to the medical practice. In the first full year of Hawaii’s Our Care, Our…
The Department of Health today released its annual report detailing usage information during the first full year of the Our Care, Our Choice Act (OCOCA) in effect (Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2019), as well as preliminary data from the first half of 2020. The law gives mentally capable, terminally ill adults with six months or less to live…
The Hawai‘i Department of Health released its first report today detailing usage information during the first five months of the Our Care, Our Choice Act’s implementation (Jan. 1 – May 31, 2019). The law gives mentally capable, terminally ill adults with six months or fewer to live the option of medication they can decide to take to die…
The Our Care, Our Choice Act (OCOCA) has been in effect only a few short months. Yet thanks to careful preparation by the state Department of Health (DOH) and a robust education campaign, Hawaii’s health-care providers are making tremendous progress implementing the new law, which gives eligible terminally ill patients the option of medication they…
Since Jan. 1, when medically assisted death became legal in Hawaii, at least 17 patients have requested lethal drugs to end their lives and at least three of them went on to use the medication to “have a peaceful death.” That’s according to Compassion &Choices Hawaii, part of a national nonprofit organization that advocates for…
Since Big Island Now’s last article on the Our Care Our Choice Act (OCOCA), it has been confirmed that aid-in-dying medication is available for all qualified patients in Hawai‘i. “While these are not official numbers, we are aware of at least three people [in the state of Hawai‘i] who have filled prescriptions, one of whom has ingested the…
With Hawaii’s Our Care, Our Choice Act in effect as of January 1, Compassion & Choices Hawai‘i at a press conference today applauded the Hawai‘i Department of Health for its statewide preparation and supportive guidance for providers and patients. Compassion & Choices also applauds provider groups, pharmacies and medical facilities for their efforts in setting…
Compassion & Choices Hawai‘i today announced that its public education campaign about the Our Care, Our Choice Act has met several key benchmarks in preparation for the law to take effect on January 1, 2019. Signed into law on April 5 by Governor David Ige, the Our Care, Our Choice Act authorizes medical aid in…
The following article appeared in the Economist on April 26, 2018: THREE years ago John Radcliffe, a jovial retired lobbyist in Hawaii, was diagnosed with terminal stage four colon and liver cancer. He has since undergone 60 rounds of chemotherapy but doctors suspect he has just six more months to live. His illness often leaves…
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