June 9, 2011 - Dr. Robert Brody, a member of the northern California and national boards of Compassion & Choices, was a guest on KALW's Your Call radio show. The show, entitled How should we make end of life decisions, included:

• Robb Miller, Executive Director, Compassion & Choices of Washington;
• Donald Schumacher, President and CEO National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, and
• Robert Brody M.D., chief of the Pain Consultation Clinic and former chair of the Ethics Committee at San Francisco General Hospital and member of the board of directors for Compassion & Choices.

A podcast of the show is available at: http://a4.g.akamai.net/7/4/27043/v0001/kalw.download.akamai.com/27043/YourCall/060811yc.mp3

May 10, 2011 - On Thursday, May 26, How to Die in Oregon premiered on HBO and is now "On Demand" for HBO subscribers. It will also be available on The Sundance Channel later this summer and the DVD will be available for rent and sale in the fall. The documentary How to Die in Oregon follows the decisions and experiences of people preparing for and using Oregon's Death with Dignity Act.

In addition to winning the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize, How to Die in Oregon won prizes for best documentary film at the Portland International Film Festival, the Ashland Independent Film Festival, the Center for Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award and The Kathleen Bryan Edwards Award for Human Rights at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. The film has played to packed houses at the SXSW Film Festival, and the Big Sky Film Festival.

In the film, viewers enter the lives of several terminally ill patients as they consider whether—and when—to achieve a peaceful death using Oregon's Death with Dignity law. Filmmaker Peter Richardson worked closely with Compassion & Choices of Oregon to observe the process of the Oregon law, and the individuals, families, physicians and friends who make this unique, personal choice at the end of life.

How to Die in Oregon presents a unique opportunity for people around the world to see how aid in dying has been incorporated into the standard practice for end-of-life care in Oregon. End-of-Life Consultation volunteers represent Compassion & Choices throughout the film, as do volunteer advocates in Washington State's I-1000 campaign in 2008.

Compassion & Choices' End-of-Life Consultation volunteers help individuals and families understand their choices at the end of life. These include options for controlled, peaceful death not just in Oregon, Washington and Montana, but also New York, California, Illinois, Florida—everywhere our voice reaches. Learn more about our End-of-Life Consultation here.

We encourage you to gather with friends and loved ones to watch this important documentary. Then, talk to your loved ones about your own wishes. Effective communication with those who will be called upon to make decisions on our behalf is key to the likelihood that your wishes are carried out. Compassion & Choices offers a Good to Go Toolkit and Good to Go Resource Guide that help you define your priorities, understand who you need to talk with and come up with ideas on how to get the conversation rolling. We also provide California-specific advance directives free of charge, available for downloading. It is never too early to get started.

April 20, 2011 - The POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) form indicates which types of life-sustaining treatment a seriously ill patient wants. POLST helps give patients more control over their end-of-life care, and should complement an advance directive, not take the place of it. POLST has been in use since January 2009 and recently went through a revision effective April 1, 2011. Changes were made to the form based on actual usage from the medical field. The revised POLST can be found here. Since the POLST must be signed by your physician, please speak to your doctor to obtain a copy. POLST forms are printed on ultra pink card stock so they are easily recognizable by emergency medical staff. NOTE: previously filled out POLST forms are still valid.