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California's Legislature ended its special session on health care, meaning the state's assisted suicide will go into effect on June 9th. Under the law, signed by Gov. Brown in October, a patient who has been diagnosed as having six months or less to live can request that his doctor prescribe life-ending medication.
The patient must make two oral requests at least 15 days apart, along with a written request witnessed by at least two people, one of whom may not be a relative.
Compassion & Choices, the main advocacy group that lobbied for the law, says it has launched a bilingual campaign to educate the terminally ill, their families and medical providers about the law.
The group said in a statement that it has set up a hotline (1-800-893-4548) that patients, doctors and pharmacists can call for information on the law. It is also providing information on a website.
"In addition, physicians can speak to doctors with years of experience in end-of-life care options, including medical aid in dying, by calling the Compassion & Choices’ free and confidential Doc2Doc consultation program at 1-800-247-7421," the group said.
For the entire article written by Paul Glickman, please click here
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