Hospice and Medical Aid-In-Dying
November 21, 2023Practical aspects of medical aid-in-dying
1 What will the death certificate list as the “cause of death?”
The underlying terminal illness will be the listed cause of death. This death is not a suicide, and there will not be any mention of medical aid-in-dying, or hastened death.
2Does the medical aid process ever fail? Does it always work?
Without fail, the medication always brings about death after ingestion.
3How long does it take for the medication to work?
After ingestion, coma is induced in five (5) to seven (7) minutes. Eighty (80) percent of the time, patients die within two (2) hours of ingestion. Ninety-five (95) percent of the time within five (5) hours. Ninety-nine (99) percent of the time within ten (10) hours. And nearly one-hundred (99.99) percent within nineteen (19) hours.
4Will there be pain?
There is no pain. Once a coma is induced, pain and distress are gone.
5 Is medical aid an injection or pill?
Neither. The medical aid-in-dying medication is the powdered form of five (5) medications, reconstituted, with two to three ounces of fluid to drink, usually apple juice, or electrolyte solution.
6What medications are used in the aid-in-dying solution?
DDMAPh is digitalis, diazepam, morphine, amitriptyline, and phenobarbital.
7How do the medications work?
Diazepam, morphine, and phenobarbital are potent sedatives (they put the patient in a coma, then stop the breathing). The digitalis, and amitriptyline are highly toxic to the heart (they stop the heart).
