Summary

Compassionate pain management is an appropriate treatment option for individuals suffering from advanced stages of degenerative diseases, but current statutes restrict its application. Those seeking appropriate palliative and hospice care as alternatives to other measures can face obstacles in accessing such services.

Conference Position

The Conference supports legislation which would:

• authorize the administration of pain management medications, by qualified health care practitioners under appropriate guidelines, while maintaining the state’s prohibition on euthanasia and assisted suicide
• ensure that patients with terminal illnesses and those in the advanced stages of progressive diseases receive appropriate palliative care and the supportive care of hospice
• educate health care professionals on pain management and the provision of appropriate end-of-life care to the dying
• break down financial barriers that thwart patients and their families from accessing hospice and palliative care
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Rationale

Palliative care and hospice hold the promise of providing appropriate, compassionate care to the dying and those in an advanced stage of a progressive disease, and provides supportive services to such patients’ families as well.

Hospice provides a broad array of interdisciplinary treatment modes applied to terminal illnesses or the advanced stages of progressive diseases, whether as a “stand-alone” program or as a component of care in a nursing facility.