I am starting a new post because the previous one on "death hastened by hospice" has so many replies. Do people expect medical euthanasia when they accept hospice? Does hospice staff aim for 24/7 sleep using sedating meds? When did this become the standard of care? When we call hospice should we be prepared to have our loved one be medicated heavily and die soon? Why is the word "comfortable" left so open to interpretation? Why is "agitated" as minor as slight tossing and turning during sleep? What has happened to hospice?
As for the reason why one isn't given food or water is because the stomach is no longer digesting, thus food/water would just sit in the stomach causing a lot of pain. This would happen with or without Hospice.
A person isn't placed on Hospice without a doctor ordering same. Who in the family signed the paperwork that is required by Hospice?
When it comes to morphine, a Hospice patient gets 5 to 15 mg, no different then the amount that a surgical patient would need for the pain. It would take 200 mg to cause death. Morphine is a highly regulated medicine, thus every mg is accounted for.
DNR is not given to a patient if the patient or whomever is representing the patient [Power of Attorney] had signed the paperwork. Someone had to have signed the DNR paperwork.
Most Hospice associations are non-profit. And many of the workers are volunteers.
I am sorry for your lost, it will be coming up to two years, correct? Could you tell us why your husband was in the hospital?
Illegal? You're damn right it is! Oh and by the way, do you consider 225 mgs of Morphine daily to be too much? I do. Thats an overdose!
I am sorry to hear about the negligent care of your father.
You are right SOME hospitals or hospice care facilities do hasten death for their own convenience. Just google it.
Perhaps people need to stay in denial to comfort themselves.
Can you talk to an attorney about filing a civil suit. A civil case is easier to win than a criminal case. Most attorneys give a free initial consult.
My grandfather was given weeks to live in a hospice. I took him to my home and he lived more than five relatively happy years.
Also just recently here are links to a high profile case about a doctor that was prescribing overdoses of fentanyl and killing patients without permission from family members.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/families-sue-doctor-accused-ordering-fatal-doses-pain-medications-dying-n959476
https://www.dispatch.com/news/20190115/second-lawsuit-filed-alleging-deadly-dosage-of-fentanyl-by-mount-carmel-doctor
When death occurs, one has a real need to blame someone, that is quite normal. Yes, the emotions are very real. I would hate to find out my family was spending so much time regarding my death not to pay attention to anything I had done in life.
When it comes to the Internet, one can find anti websites for everything and anyone. There are still websites that claim no one dies from smoking cigarettes, that smoking health issues are a hoax.
There are websites that claim the world is flat.
it is best to concentrate on websites from highly accredited medical facilities, who have done decades of research on any medical subject matter.
Oh, regarding the recent new report about a doctor who overdosed his patients. Does that mean every doctor does that? What percentage would that be? 100% or less than 1%. It would be the latter.
On the other hand, someone who has never taken an opioid before, or has used them only rarely in the past, could never, ever safely take anything close to 225 milligrams of morphine in a single day. Everyone is different, of course, but as a general guide, a patient just starting morphine therapy for pain would probably receive about five to fifteen milligrams as an initial starting dose. Factors such as pain level, age, sex and size of the patient could affect the dose. Over time, with regular daily use, the patient will require periodic upward dosage adjustments in order to keep getting adequate pain relief.
Pissedoffwife, I hope you find peace somehow with the death of your husband. My experience so far with hospice care for my friend with heart failure has been a positive one. His pain is adequately controlled with moderate, although increasing, doses of oxycodone. Lorazepam eases his anxiety, and temazepam allows him adequate sleep at night. Tolerance will affect the dosages of all these medications eventually. This will also be true should he need morphine to help ease the dyspnea that is sure to come.
May all the caregivers here find the strength they need to care for their loved ones. It's sure not easy.
Yes. It is true. One does develop a tolerance to morphine and the user needs more and more to quell the pain.
Still, the drug is doing irreparable damage to the kidneys and liver. It is toxic.
I took my grandfather out of a facility that was overdosing him on pain meds, weaned him off and he lived another happy five years. There are natural ways to relieve pain. If people research these methods, they may be surprised.
Also, when being weaned off of morphine or opiates, it causes a withdrawal syndrome that is very very very painful and anxiety inducing Thus weaning is like a catch 22. The pain levels seem to go up, due to withdrawal symptoms, But once the body adjusts again, the pain will subside.
Of course it is much easier to simply give a prescription pain med rather than seeking alternative methods, particularly when one witnesses the withdrawal symptoms.
Here is a link to an National Institute of health (NIH) abstract discussing the toxicity of pain meds.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5297852/
Here is another NIH link with a portion of the abstract included in parenthises. The word hepatic is a medical term for the liver. The word renal is a term of the kidney.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15886461
( "Our findings pointed out the risk of increased lipid peroxidation, hepatic and renal damage due to long term use of opioids, especially morphine. Although opioids are reported to be effective in pain management, their toxic effects should be kept in mind during chronic usage." )
But I don't understand why hospitals, etc. would want to kill someone for money reasons. After all they get paid for patients in the beds and not corpses. Would make more sense to indulge in last ditch treatment on a money basis. And is there a question here, pissed off wife, that no DNR or hospice papers were signed? Did you ask to see the papers they claimed they had? Did a civil attorney petition on your behalf?
As for drugs, to control pain etc.; of course there are downsides but you have to look at balancing good effects vs. bad effects and find a balance. A dear friend had back/spinal issues as well as CHF. The painkillers were sure not "good" for her body in a general sense, but without them she would probably have killed herself. So often, in this life, you are stuck choosing the "least bad".