Courses and Information

Ethics Consultation Service

The mission of the Ethics Consultation Service is to provide support for clinicians involved in the practice of medical aid in dying.

To submit an ethics consultation request, fill out our form.

Request a Consultation

This support is primarily directed at addressing clinical ethics questions brought up by clinicians involved with patients considering medical aid in dying, as well as aid-in-dying issues that arise among hospice and palliative care agencies, healthcare organizations, grief and bereavement services, and requests from other ethics committees seeking aid from an ethics group with aid-in-dying expertise.

Our support provides:

  • A consistent and knowledgeable resource for clinicians facing ethical dilemmas in providing care to patients considering medical aid in dying.
  • A forum in which clinicians and members of the Consultation Service can explore a clinical dilemma and offer options and recommendations.
  • Discussions of challenges regarding research, data collection and analysis, and additional investigations, by operating within an ethical framework.

Case #11: Requests for a Hastened Death by Vague Language

Case #10: Hospice policy mandating two-week enrollment prior to ingesting aid-in-dying medication

Case #9: Conscientious Objections by Non-Clinical Team Members

Case #8: What is the Appropriate Response when a Colleague is Not following an Aid-in-Dying Law?

Case #7: Complex Social Situations as Confounders to Prescribing Aid-in-Dying Medications

Case #6: Lost Hospice Eligibility with Aid-in-Dying Medications Held by Patient

Case #5: A patient pursues Voluntary Stopping Eating and Drinking (VSED) to be able to meet eligibility for aid in dying

Case #4: Patient Discharge from Hospice Services for Pursuing Medical Aid in Dying

Case #3: Conflict Between Consulting Physicians Regarding Patient Prognosis

Case #2: Navigating Conflict Between Professional Nursing Commitments to Patients and Institutional “Leave the Room” Policies

Case #2, Supplement Nurse Leave the Room Policies, AMJNursing, June 2023

Case #1: A Patient with Anorexia Nervosa Requests Aid in Dying.

Members of the Aid in Dying Ethics Consultation Service

Cindy Bruzzese, MPA, MSB, HEC-C

Co-Director, Academy Ethics Consultation Service

Lynette Cederquist, MD

Co-Director, Academy Ethics Consultation Service

Artemis Brod, BA, MA, PhD

Associate Editor, Journal of Aid-in-Dying Medicine. Editor, Ethics Consultation Service

Jean Abbott, MD, MH

Margaret Pabst Battin, PHD, MFA

Paula Goodman-Crews, MSW, LCSW, HEC-C

Constance Holden, RN, MSN

Editorial Board, Journal of Aid-in-Dying Medicine

Jeanne Kerwin, DMH, HEC-C 

Alex A. Kon, MD, HEC-C, FAAP, FCCM

Charles F. Miller, MD, FACP, FASCO

Deborah North, MD

Thaddeus Mason Pope, JD, PhD, HEC-C

Editorial Board, Journal of Aid-in-Dying Medicine

Katalin Eve Roth, JD, MD, FACP

Yvette Vieira, MMH, HEC-C

Ethics Consultation Request Form

Consultations will be considered from clinicians licensed in states/jurisdictions which have legalized medical aid in dying, or from clinicians in other states considering referring a patient to an aid-in-dying state.

Once you have submitted the form below, please email any additional files you would like us to see to AADM@AADM.org, stating “Ethics Consultation Material” in the Subject line.

MM slash DD slash YYYY
Name of Requester(Required)
Does this request for consultation concern?

Once you have submitted the form above, please email any additional files you would like us to see to AADM@AADM.org, stating “Ethics Consultation Material” in the Subject line.

Teaching and supporting best practices for the care of patients considering or completing medical aid in dying.

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