For the public's information we will be presenting actual cases in this section. There are many, many fine hospices in our nation, with so many wonderful and dedicated staff. When quality hospice care has been provided, the patient and family experience a very intimate, intense and positive experience as their loved one passes on. It is never an easy process, but with good hospice care, there can be a death with dignity and peace. Comfort can be maintained with good symptom management. We would like to praise those hospices and staff that do serve in the spirit of what we call the heart of hospice care.

However, there are other hospices which do not always provide that quality of care. In these instances, families go through devastating pain, anguish, and anxiety while the patient often suffers needlessly. Cases will be presented here to learn how to avoid these problems and will be disguised to protect the identities of the actual patients and families. The cases fall into the category of "hospice disasters" which actually happened and are presented to show what hospice is NOT about, . . . what hospice should not do. Good hospice care does not involve violating standards of care, starving a conscious patient, letting patients suffer in pain, or forcing them into a hospice facility against their will so that the hospice can collect room and board fees and keep their beds full. Good hospice care does not provide assisted suicide to patients, and it certainly does not administer medications which hasten death in those who are not ready to die.

Some of the cases to be presented here are quite unusual and occur extremely infrequently. Some of the cases occur quite commonly. Any experienced hospice professsional knows that these types of situations do occur. If a hospice professional tells you that these cases are not realistic and could never happen, they are simply not telling you the truth!

Submitting cases to be posted

If you know of a case that would be useful to share with the public, please send us an e-mail describing the basic situation that occurred. If we decide to post your case, we will require that you send us a written, signed statement describing the situation you witnessed, clearly summarized with all the basic facts presented, including patient's diagnosis, exactly what occurred, if any hospice professional tried to intervene on the patient's behalf, if family members tried to intervene on the patient's behalf, and what effect or consequences this case has had on your life and the lives of those around you. We do NOT want the names of the hospice where this occurred, nor do we need all the names of others involved. The purpose of posting these cases is for education, not for blame. We will not reveal the name of the person submitting the case. Confidentiality will be respected. Most people who contact us with cases like these are deeply affected and can never forget the trauma of such events.

1. We will start with the following case about a man named Stanley [not actual name] who was starved to death against his will, all in the name of "hospice." Permission has been obtained from the family of the patient described in this case. Read about Stanley's story and decide if this was good hospice care.
   
   

2. The second case involves a man who simply wanted to die at home.
   Read about what happened to him and decide if this was good hospice care or not: Jose Alvarez' story.
   
   

3. The third case involves a young woman of 29 years old with a rare form of terminal cancer. Find out how the doctors treated her and what the hospice did. You decide if good hospice care was given in Denine Sharpe's story.
   
   

4. The fourth case involves an 83 year old woman with a slow growing and relatively painless cancer who strangely started suddenly going downhill once "hospice care" was provided. She was started on two antidepressants and a round-the-clock pain patch despite the fact that she had been doing well on Tylenol only. This case is sent in from an M.D. who writes that he is glad the Hospice Patients Alliance is there to help others avoid the problems his mother-in-law encountered. Read about how being overmedicated can affect one's longevity.
   
   

5. Involuntary Euthanasia Case 1
   

   Lucid, Poor, Elderly Veteran Euthanized Against His Will
   
   

6. Involuntary Euthanasia Case 2
   

   HMO Commits Medicare Fraud, Kills Patient and Falsifies Death Certificate
   

7. Involuntary Euthanasia Case 3
   

   Hospice Kills Family's Mother with Morphine Overdose
   
   

8. Involuntary Euthanasia Case 4
   

   Hospice Kills Parkinson's Patient by Dehydration, Terminal Sedation
   and Morphine Overdose
   
   

By being informed about what could happen, and knowing what really good hospice care should be, you can prevent such hospice tragedies from occurring to your loved one! New cases will be added over time. To learn about the standards of care in hospice and what services hospices can provide, please look at our list of topics on our main page. Each area of hospice service is described.

Enter Here for Involuntary Euthanasia News and Reports.
The four cases of involuntary euthanasia noted above are also listed on this page.

If you have questions about hospice, we hope that you will take the time to visit the hundreds of pages at our website, read our Guide to Hospice Care and visit our resources and links section (with hundreds of vital resources listed).

Hospice Patients Alliance affirms that all human life is inherently valuable and that the role of hospice nurses, physicians and all other staff is to alleviate suffering and provide comfort for the sick and dying without sanctioning or assisting their suicide. A death with dignity allows for a natural death in its own time, while doing everything possible to assure relief from distressing symptoms. Hospice Patients Alliance works hard to promote quality hospice care throughout the USA. If you would like to support our mission, we hope you wille consider supporting our mission through a donation. Hospice Patients Alliance is a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit corporation and your donations are deductible to the full extent allowed by law.

Click on the Hospice Issues link above and then you can sign up to join the discussion of issues in hospice and end of life care, and you will begin to receive email messages from the members of the discussion group. All you need to do is enter your email address, along with your own password, and click the "Subscribe" button.

All material copyright of Hospice Patients Alliance ("HPA") unless otherwise credited.