EWTN Catholic Q&A

Hospice care
Question from Michael on 12-10-2012:

My heart goes out to Beverly.

My mother was euthanized by a hospice 16 years ago. Yes, she was terminal, but NO, she was not in severe pain. They chose to apply a Fentanyl pain patch, state of the art at that time, that stopped her breathing 18 hours later. My mother was awake and alert until just a few minutes before her death by suffocation. I tried to pursue it at the time. Nobody cared then...they still don't.

I guess the point is, most patients enter hospice when they are in crisis mode and their family, if any, needs serious, round-the-clock help. That didn't happen for my mother, apparently it is not happening now. God bless us all.

Answer by Judie Brown on 12-14-2012:

Michael

Hospice has become, in many cases, a short cut to death instead of a place where loving care is given to the loved one who is dying and the family which is grieving. It is so sad but it is really witness to the utilitarian attitude that puts no value whatsoever on human dignity.

God be with you and indeed, God bless us all.