By Fredrick P. Niemann, Esq. of Hanlon Niemann & Wright, a Monmouth County, Freehold, NJ Elder Care Attorney Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday signed legislation making New Jersey the seventh state to enact a law permitting terminally ill patients to end their lives. Murphy, a Democrat, signed the Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act in private. His office would not answer why the signing was not public. The law goes into effect in August. He earlier indicated he would support the bill, but in a personal statement, Murphy — a lifelong Catholic — revealed that he wrestled with whether to sign the legislation. The state’s Catholic Conference testified against the measure. “I have concluded that, while my …
Can Adult Children Visit Their Dying Mother, if Her Second Spouse (who is POA) Says “No”
By Fredrick P. Niemann, Esq. of Hanlon Niemann, a New Jersey Hospice Law Attorney Recently our office was engaged to represent the children of KL, a dying parent under hospice in an action seeking to establish visitation despite the objections of their mother’s spouse ML. As part of our engagement, we were required to file a Verified Complaint and Order to Show Cause with Temporary Restraints with the County Chancery Court as an emergent request. KL was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer several weeks ago. Medical opinions give her several weeks to live but it is not expected that she will last more than several months. Her lucidity is sporadic and every day, every hour, is valuable. The plaintiffs, her …
THE HISTORY OF HOSPICE IN NEW JERSEY (PART I OF II)
By Fredrick P. Niemann, Esq. a New Jersey Hospice Attorney There are more than 3,000 hospice programs that serve communities in New Jersey today and throughout the United States. In 2012, hospice programs are treating more than one million dying Americans, according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. According to that organization, about 70 percent of American hospice programs are not-for-profit, 27 percent are for-profit and 3 percent are government owned. Today’s hospices are patterned after the first modern program, St. Christopher’s Hospice, which physician Dame Cicely Saunders established it in the London suburbs in 1967. She originated the term “hospice” to describe the program of specialized care for dying patients. Hospice derives from the Latin word for …
OBAMA’S NEW HEALTHCARE LAW WILL FOCUS MORE ON HOSPICE
By Fredrick P. Niemann, Esq. a NJ Hospice Care Lawyer Several years voters and politicians were discussing legislation that would establish “death panels” of government bureaucrats who could “pull the plug on Grandma” if she needed costly care. The new health care law would have paid for voluntary consultations between physicians and Medicare beneficiaries about end-of-life care: living wills, hospice benefits and the like, until it was repealed. End of life care has been mostly out of the news when Obama care comes up. But 36% of seniors still believe that healthcare reform creates “death panels”. In some ways, the new law will expand options for patients at the end of life, through hospice. With hospice care, a team of …
NEW HEALTHCARE LAW WILL EXPAND HOSPICE OPTION
By Fredrick P. Niemann, Esq. a New Jersey Hospice Lawyer About this time last year, voters and politicians were discussing legislation that would establish “death panels” of government bureaucrats who could “pull the plug on Grandma” if she needed costly care. The new health care law would have paid for voluntary consultations between physicians and Medicare beneficiaries about end-of-life care: living wills, hospice benefits and the like, until it was repealed. End of life care has been mostly out of the news spotlight. But 36% of seniors still believe that healthcare reform creates “death panels”. Many people may not realize that, in some ways, the new law will expand options for patients at the end of life, through hospice. With …