I am writing to protest the illegal practice of euthanizing (killing) patients in hospices, hospitals, nursing homes or even home health care settings. Patients are being hastened to their death against their will. Research shows that many patients not only do not wish to be euthanized, in many instances, patients are euthanized without their knowledge or permission! We merely seek enforcement of the laws against murder already on the books, because euthanasia without permission is not "assisted suicide" but murder.

Hastening the death of a patient for whatever reason, against his or her will, is the ultimate violation of human and patient rights. The American value placed on freedom and justice for all requires that the practice of involuntary euthanasia be stopped. Hospice has benefited from a favorable public opinion for quite some time, largely due to the wonderfully loving and caring services provided by so many dedicated hospice professionals. However, there are exceptions to the rule, and even one American who has been killed in a hospice is one too many! I have solid evidence to believe that there are many hundreds (and possibly thousands) of involuntary euthanasias occurring in our nation's health care system, and in hospices in particular.

There is well-documented scientific research showing that in European nations, involuntary euthanasias are occurring resulting in the deaths of thousands of patients, even solely considering Belgium, Holland or the U.K., for example. I am not aware of any reason to believe that such involuntary euthanasias are not occurring in the USA. In fact, research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and Archives of Internal Medicine suggest that not only are physicians willing to euthanize patients who have pain, they are willing to euthanize patients who are simply old, depressed or in a state of debility. The studies show that there are many physicians in the US who admit to performing involuntary euthanasias without the knowledge of the patient.

Our nation's hospice programs are mainly funded by the federal and state governments. Why should our tax dollars be spent on funding illegal murder of patients? Hospice as a niche within the health care industry is a unique and extremely important service directed to serve the terminally ill. However, according to the US OIG, the chronically ill are being shunted into hospices fraudulently. When this occurs, after rogue hospices collect reimbursement wrongly, they may then euthanize the patients and falsify the medical record and certificate of death to cover up the crime.

Newly diagnosed terminally ill patients or patients with expense care requirements are being hastened to their death, thereby saving money for the rogue hospice agency involved. Rogue hospices that violate the laws of our nation tarnish the image of our nation's hospices and cause untold devastation to the families of those patients who are hastened to their death, let alone the loss of life to the victim. We are a nation to be governed by laws, and murder is still illegal in every state of the nation, even in hospice settings.

When people become patients due to the unfortunate circumstances of an illness, they remain citizens of our great nation. They still have the right to be treated with total respect and dignity. They deserve to be able to trust that they will not be murdered in a hospice! What would you think if one of your children, parents, spouse or siblings were killed shortly after entering a hospice?

I urge you to initiate official government investigations into the involuntary euthanasias of patients in hospice settings. The Hospice Patients Alliance (www.hospicepatients.org) has names of four families that have come forward publicly to testify that their loved ones were put to death while enrolled in a hospice. The Hospice Patients Alliance has received other complaints, but many families are not yet willing to speak in public about their losses. I hope that when there are hearings, others will overcome their grief and anger enough to come forward as well.

I know that many hospice leaders will deny that such murders are taking place, or state that they are extremely rare. On the contrary, such murders are becoming more common, and we believe that if an official investigation were undertaken, many more cases would come to light. Again, why would such murders not be occurring in the US, when they are definitely happening in the thousands in European nations? For the sake of the most vulnerable of the vulnerable, I beg you to act now to save the lives of the innocent. Please direct any government agencies within your authority to take complaints about these types of murders seriously and to investigate and prosecute those cases that are substantiated.

I especially urge that Congressional hearings be held, investigations be conducted by the General Accounting Office and the Justice Department. I also urge that the US Drug Enforcement Administration be directed to fulfill its obligations under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act and to investigate deaths resulting from intentional overdosages of morphine, rather than refusing to investigate these types of cases (which is reported by families as being their current practice)

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