Empire Report: Dr. Robert Milch – Medical Aid in Dying Can Ease Suffering for Many New Yorkers. That’s Why a Strong Majority of New York Physicians Supports It.

Feb 23, 2021 New York New York Medical Aid in Dying Act

An excerpt from the Empire Report column, “Medical Aid in Dying Can Ease Suffering for Many New Yorkers. That’s Why a Strong Majority of New York Physicians Supports It,” by Robert Milch, MD, published February 23, 2021:

 
"I co-founded Hospice Buffalo more than 40 years ago to help patients who were dying, to ensure that their final days, weeks and months could be as comfortable, pain-free and fulfilling as possible.

I know we succeeded in this challenge more often than we failed, but not always, not for everyone. And as a physician, however skillful in symptom management and earnest in the supportive engagement with the patient and family, I cannot in good conscience dictate to someone else when they reach an intolerable point of suffering... Respect for individual patient autonomy and humane decency prohibit that inexcusable paternalism. These are some of the reasons I support the Medical Aid in Dying Act…

Now my focus turns to passing the Medical Aid in Dying Act in 2021. Governor Cuomo supports it, as do a majority of New Yorkers. They are counting on our state legislators to respond to their needs and desires, knowing that together we can help ease needless suffering for so many."

Read more at EmpireReportNewYork.com.