HOSPICE KILLS

Hold on a minute! I empathize with your pain and confusion, but this should not be the basis for condemning all hospices. You are operating out of your emotional pain and not out of logic. Your sister would not be eligible for hospice care simply for pain alone. In order to receive hospice care, your sister would need a prognosis of six months or less to live. It sounds like you need to have a family conference with the physician, nurse and social worker from the hospice. If you get no satisfaction from that, you can transfer your loved one to another hospice once within a six month period and report the original hospice to the department of public health. Hospices have done much to keep dying people at peace, surrounded by loved ones and free from pain in this country since the mid-1970's. It is unfair to warn people away from hospice because you have had a bad experience.

As someone near to the original poster I can assure you she is not operating out of emotion, except possibly the emotion of OUTRAGE. Her sister was put into hospice because of symptoms they were told by the Dr. would indicate she was dying. The truth is the symptoms were brought on by the OVER medication for pain and not by imminent death. Perhaps you missed the part in the middle where lesser medications were tried and the "symptoms" abated, and the Dr. was insulted and ordered the Dilaudid restored, which brought back the "symptoms" once again. And since when is a sibling not considered a near enough family member to be at least considered. It has become clear to me that the Dr. is more concerned with CYA (not to mention the $ her being there brings in) than the quality of life of the patient. This is not the first instance I have heard of personally where the death has been precipitated more by the supposed "treatment for pain" than the body dying on it's own. If the patient can eat,take fluids and remain lucid when treated with different medications and still be pain free, then why insist on heavier meds. What good is done to be surrounded by loved ones if you are so drugged out you don't know they are even there. To me it appears the hospice is mainly concerned with making their job simpler until she dies from the dehydration and malnutrition the choice of medication has caused. I understand you wanting to paint all hospices as wonderful caring places, but the truth is too many are not what they started out to be. The Terri Schaivo case made that perfectly clear.

I forgot to mention that Deb (the original poster)has worked in elder care facilities and is well aware of medications and is not coming from an uninformed position.

Steve,

I suggested that the woman's family have a family conference with the physician and the hospice team caring for the sister. If they were unsatisfied with the result of that conference, I made the concrete, helpful suggestion that they report the hospice to their state's Department of Public Health. At that point, they could switch to another hospice. For that matter, they could take the sister out of hospice altogether if they wanted to. I am not "wanting to paint all hospices as wonderful caring places" as you say in your response. But Debs suggestion, as the title of this blog indicates, that "Hospice Kills" is also not true. In fact, such a title could be a real disservice to people who could benefit from a well-run, caring, compassionate hospice. Isn't there a middle ground here? Someplace between "All hospices are wonderful places" and "Hospice Kills?" And yes, I did read the whole post. I didn't miss the part in the middle about the less powerful drugs. This is why I suggested the family meeting with the sister's hospice team. Maybe there are real problems with the hospice your friend is dealing with--hence the department of public health suggestion from me. Maybe there are other circumstances that neither you, nor I, nor your friend understand that could be cleared up in this way. I try to think the best of people, and solve problems rather than go on the attack. I think this is a scriptural approach to conflict annd disagreement. If Deb is amenable to resolving the situation, however unpleasant the situation may be, maybe she will consider taking my suggestions. My father just passed away in hospice at eighty one years of age, and they took very good care of him and now they are in contact with my mother as she grieves. I have also worked as a hospital chaplain and a nursing home chaplain and am no stranger to the stresses and hurts that come with end of life, so I'm not uninformed either.
I wish you all peace.

Thanks for your feedback, and I am glad you had a positive experience. The sad truth of Deb's situation is the Dr. has convinced her sister's adult children that she should stay, and they don't seem to have any interest in challenging the Dr. or dealing with their mothers' care themselves.(Deb has even offered to care for her sister herself) It also doesn't seem to matter what Deb says (even with her elder care background) since she is not considered "direct family", nor the input of the nursing staff who agree with Deb as to the meds. All that matters here is the Dr.'s ego. I truly feel the Dr. in this case is ignoring the Hippocratic oath of "first do no harm" since the treatment of choice causes total loss of appetite and withholding of hydration until the body overstresses itself to death. The other advantage for the Dr. is that Deb's sister is now not able to even tell anyone what she wants done or not done. (thanks to being so drugged up) This does not fit any definition of "care" that I have ever seen. You might want to search the web and see the cases where autopsies were done after death and it was determined that deaths have been been found to be caused by "overmedication for pain" rather than the cancer they were supposedly medicating for. The only ones getting cared for here are the Dr., the hospice and the children who now get to avoid dealing with the reality of their mothers' situation. I feel that the treatment chosen has robbed her sister of dignity and awareness in her final days (weeks,maybe months?) and no compassion for the patient. Only consideration for the wants of the Dr. and easing the burden on her children.

I am not talking about an isolated case where patients are over-medicated. I am talking about all Hospice's where the medical care is discontinued so that patients die from dehydration!

I am so glad to see someone finally address this issue. I believe Hospice was conceived with the purest of intentions -- to ease the pain of the dying, who, in times past were often consigned to horribly painful deaths -- but it has devolved into exactly what this blog suggests... Hospice kills. No longer does a patient have to be "terminally ill" in the classic medical definition. I work for a large home health agency and have personally witness Hospice kill (and I do not use that word loosely) literally dozens of people -- only a handful of whom were terminally ill. The most heartbreaking case was a perfectly healthy woman (diagnosed with alzheimers) whom it took months to finally finish off with mega doses of painkilling drugs. She was never in any pain. She went from a vibrant, fiesty little lady, to nearly catatonic within three weeks. Her poor, clueless family stood by as the Hospice staff tended to her "comfort". No doubt Hospice has helped ease the pain of many a patient dying from painful disease, but much more often do they purposefully, knowingly end the lives of those entrusted to their care. God have mercy on their souls.

km

Do your research. There are thousands of others who have lost loved ones to hospice care. This is not isolated. I don't just blame hospice. Medicare, insurance companies and other health care professionals as well as a world that does not value life are equally to blame.

http://hospicekills.blogspot.com/

First time blogger, Hospice at home, 79, CHF, E.
Have been in Hospice home care since June, 2005. Even though I shuffle, stumble and stagger, I still cut the lawn (yesterday, 1st time in 2008), do the grocery shopping, etc.

Doc now says my old bod must have built its own bi-passes to get enough blood to heart to keep me moving (slowly). Hospice says they see my health declining and keep renewing my membership. Doc agrees, probably to get me off his shift. I look in the mirror and see me declining, but due mostly to age. My 1979 heart attack was a signal that I could go at any time, but it was disregarded and I continue to drink, quit smoking in 2000 when I didn't have enough breath to light up. On O2 but it doesn't help breathing. Doc says O2 helps my brain, but any blog reader must have some doubts.

In 2000, when I couldn't breathe I went to Lowes' and bought a hose for my car exhaust pipe which I keep on the back seat. (Reading about Katrina victims dying because of generater in garage, the hose became my choice of exit.)

When I showed it to my first Hospice nurse in 2005 she had a hissy.

The morphine they gave me caused bad side effects. The slow release morphine Hospice gave me in December to help my breathing caused me to not remember anything for 3 days... don't even remember if it helped my breathing. Beer is better!

Point is, Hospice doesn't kill! Some caretakers are better than others... just like auto mechanics. Hospice (and Google) helps dummys like me work past doctors who don't have time to explain anything. In 2000, I thought a cannula was some kind of Italian pastry. COPD must be a late night TV show.

I totally agree with Deb. The modern trend in hospice today "pro-death" with very little pro-life treatment. Many hospice practices are designed to "hasten" death. The plan is to sedate them so they loose their appitites and if their disease dont take them fast enough the "hope" is that they will starve to death (malnourish).
I suggest that unless you have personally gone through an experience like this, you should reserve comment. That is not to say all hospice programs are bad, as in everything, there are good and bad. In hopice, there are those programs that adhere to the "Original" purpose of hospice which is PRO life and against any hastening of death of euthansia. However, IF YOU DO YOUR HOMEWORK, you will see the modern trend in hospice today is designed to hasten death.
If you want to hear my own personal hospice horrpr story, here is a link to my site. Once there, be sure to reas the pages including the "Frank & Earnest Dairy" page where family members are blogging about it;

http://www.freewebs.com/willswayweb

My experience with hospice and the "care" my parents received is a nightmare that I shall never wake up from. My sister was the supervising nurse who out of love promiced them a "soft" or "good" death,...even if it came a little early.

My grandmother had collon cancer and the doctors cut her collon out she was cancer free but had a colostomy bag My sister lived with her and one night she collapsed and she was taken to hospice in Branford Ct. we visited her the next day she was fine spoke to my wife about helping her organize her garage etc. That night there was a bad snow storm the next day no one was able to visit her so the folowing day My wife and I were the first to see her, when we got there there was a food tray that hadnt been touched ,she was hooked up to a morphine pump which the alarm was going off on my grandmother had the tubing wrapped around her hand. I summoned the nurse who fixed it afterward I realised the pump was pumping morphine about every 2 minutes and made her incoherent When my sister and mother arived I explained the situation to them and shortly after the doctor arived I asked him if he turned the pump down my grandmother would be coherrent he said yes and he would turn it down My sister put up a big fuss "You dont have to clean up when her bag breaks" etc. what ever I explained she wasnt dying from cancer she was dying from dehydration even the doctor aggreed but said it was the most humane thing to do 5 dayslater she was dead... My question is why are they able to put our family members to sleep but doctor Kovorkian cant? at least doctor kovorkiains patiants want to die m grandmother and youre sister didnt i could imagine how much Hospice charges the state for thier services we should start a group to expose them and put an end to the killing anyone who sides with hospice is an idiot...

Yes, I agree. Hospice killed my love of my life. He was not only put on a Dilaudid pump at a dose of 20 mg an hour. The hospice Doctor had put him on three other types of narcotics, Methadone, Neurontin, and Ketamine. I couldn't understand why he was on any of it. When I questioned it. The Hospice Doctor said that it was for nerve pain. Cripes, does anyone know a good lawyer who will fight for my son and I? He had a back injury. For ten years he did okay. He was on oxycodone from his other doctor. He was sick from it. Each doctor he went to gave him something new. (they all had a different reason he couldn't eat.) These doctors shove all these prescriptions at us, and it doesn't take care of the real problems. It gives you something new to deal with. He died, on hospice care. Yet,this doctor from hospice promised him when he started to feel better, she would prescribe his meds through her own practice. He trusted her. Then she killed him. He had a slight stroke at home. I didn't know it, but she had to have. She came here on that very day. Why didn't she put him in the hospital? Why? Because she let him die.
She is a murderer.
I don't know about the other hospice's. My brother died in hospice care. But he was told he was dying through his doctor. He had lung cancer. We were never told my husband was dying. Only that his doctor couldn't prescribe oxycodone anymore.
KM, your wrong. My husband was put on for pain alone, not to die. This doctor killed him. But, she still works for hospice, and they know what she is doing. He was over medicated by Hospice. It killed him, and she even left him and went home. We called an ambulance. The medic said, he had a stroke. He was shocked at the amount of meds he was on. She is a murderer and she works for hospice, who in turn pays her to kill innocent people.

i think hospice killed my dad early he died at home it clearly was drug overdose he died at home but they were here give him some medicine and he was dead in 25 minutes they came storming in my house on fri 3/13/09 tried to take him to their unit i said no and so did my daD next they came here and finished him off i called police cause i no cancer did not kill him did u no hospice gets government money 4 each person that dies in unit a lot i wish i could have gotten autopsy on dad but our coroner refused how can that happen that is why i called police he was massivly overdosed if anybody does no of lawyer let me no but guess what no body brave enough to stand up to them

i hope all the phycos from hospice get theirs for what they do to the sick and the guilt and torment they put the care takers the family that has to see what has happened but its to late to turn back if i had known then what i no now i would not have messed with them carolgun

why cant we ban together and get someone to listen what is wrong that 1 place can decide how long our loved ones can live contact me cg

First, Deb, let me express my sympathy for the loss of your sister in such a cruel way.

My family lives in WA state, which now has legalized assisted suicide. My dear uncle suffered from Alzheimers and had a stroke in September. He was being cared for at home under the supervision of Hospice and died in December. The end of the year. He had been receiving morphine, etc. I can never prove it but I do know that my aunt and the rest of the family would never consent to his ultimate end. My aunt would love to have cared for him for the rest of his natural life. That is the saddest part to accept, someone else made that decision.

Again, God bless your sister, her children and you for spreading this very important message. Take care.

Part 1) This is coming to me as a great surprise. I have not been part of the Hospice community at large. I have been a Hospice volunteer since 2000 and since 2005 I have been a "vigil" volunteer. The term "Hospice Doctor" is foreign to me. My experiences with patients and hospice come after a Doctor has released care for the patient. I can see where the combination of Dr.s and hospice could be perfect for many money-interested self-righteous types that swell the care industry. I am posting my comments here after finding the original article from my Yahoo search for "morphine dosage". I am now doing a "vigil" with my Dad. He accepted Hospice 10 weeks ago, his GP Doctor was happy that he had accepted the available help, For MY Mothers sake. I have for many years tried to get my father to stop taking all the meds that were prescribed by his heart doctor, blood doctor and the many others that had their say-so during his many "trips to the emergency room" where he would be whisked upstairs and given a room. When he accepted the hospice program he quit taking all his meds, lay down and expected that it would be all over in a couple days. After all, he had stopped taking meds that he had been convinced were the only reason he was alive. One of the heart meds was a twice a day ordeal that he had to make sure of not needing to do anything for a half hour after taking. After a week of none of these meds, his skin looked better, his hands stopped shaking and he himself said he felt better.

Part 2) I wonder just what would have happened if he would have stopped them many years ago. Oh, BTW- this all began in January. He had gone to the hospital for one of his quarterly emergency room visits. This time he had a different outcome. He wasn't taken upstairs for a room with nurses, aides, meals in bed and a room partner to talk with. What he had not realized was that when his retirement program changed the health care provider from Blue Cross to whatever they decided worked better for them, the hospital was no longer interested in taking him upstairs. So, after about 45 minutes downstairs he was sent packing, into the care of his 83 year old primary care giver. End of life care if properly done can be a wonderful experience for patient, family and even the volunteer. I have been allowed to share many transition experiences. These were done with awareness and presence. There are meds that can be used to make breathing easier, anxiety reduced and if used with proper intention allow a conscious experience to be had by the patient. I shudder to think of what is possible if any ol doctor is given an income stream and autonomy. Please, as you think about Hospice remember that it is like guns... People kill people, hospice doesn't kill people. With love and peace

My husband was in Hospice for six months. The care he received the first three months was fine, the last three months the hospice nurse kept insisting on giving him morphine, but he had no pain. According to her visit reports for three months: Respiratory was diminished endurance. Dyspnea at rest. Dyspnea on exertion. Lung sounds diminished Left and Right. Cardiovasular was nail beds cyanotic. This was not reported to the caregiver. Hospice nurse kept telling me he was dying. I called an ambulance to seek aggressive treatment because he was complaining of being short of breath. He was treated with breathing treatments and IV lasixs, diagnosed with pleural effusion and was to be sent home with diuretics. I found out later that before he was scheduled to come home the hospice nurse at the hospital authorized morphine and ativan, but he complained of no pain. That afternoon he was completely unconscience and died at 2 a.m. the next morning. My husband was in Hospice for six months, and I clearly believe that the hospice nurse was trying to kill him at the end of the six months, due to the catastraphic cap that Medicare has placed on Hospices because a patient has lived longer than six months. The home Hospice nurse could not kill him at home because I refused to let her give him morphine because he had no pain. She notified the hospice nurse at the hospital and was able to complete her job by not going over their cap. I clearly believe that this is a case of euthanasia. There may be some hospices that provide comfort care for the dying, but this was not the case.

Watching my mother waste away slowly from a rare condition brought on from a undetected case of Ovarian cancer, the condition was called ParaNeoPlastic Syndrome( I think that is the correct spelling, I wasn't to worried about the spelling at that time), was one of the most terrible things I have ever witnessed in my life.
Part of that time was in hospice and it was short around 10 days , I do understand the over medicated part , but at this time we all wanted my beloved mother's pain to end , she had suffered for 12 weeks and all the vitality was wrung out of a once vibrant body, there is a time for the medication , but we have to be very careful when we start medicating our one time caretakers, and keep a sharp eye on physician's , because we all know they practice medicine and they do not have all the answer's, and they are not perfect.

I believe hospice took the life of my grandmother. She was 102 years old and had been in a nursing home for 14 months. She did have dementia and arthritis. Hospice was suggested by the nursing home to my father, they said they would give her extra attention. Well they suggested medication - morphine for her pain (i am guessing the arthritis) and serequel to calm her (shut her up) - 3 weeks later she was dead. She died sedated, starving and dehydrated. There were a couple nursing home employees that were wonderful with her, trying to get her to eat but she couldn't in the overmedicated state she was in. I did call hospice and the nurse in charge of her case said she wanted to increase her medication!!!! Are you kidding me, by the time I realized serequel is very dangerous for elderly with dementia it was too late. Become informed with every meidcation you or your loved ones are given!

HOSPICE KILLS. HOSPICE KILLS. HOSPICE KILLS.

HOSPICE KILLS PEOPLE BEFORE THEIR TIME. NEVER PUT A LOVED ONE IN HOSPICE.


NEVER DONATE MONEY TO HOSPICE.

CAROL PLEASE CONTACT ME.

I'm trying to start a petition against Hospice. If anyone is interested please email me.
leerobinson42@comcast.net

On July 16,2009 I brought my husband home from the hospital. Hospice was called in to help me care for him. He had Pancreatic cancer and became to weak to go on with treatments. That morning he was fine talking to me and the nurses. He ate some breakfast and was in a good mood to be going home. When the ambulance came to take him home the hospital had given him a shot of Hydromorphone. So that he would not have any pain when they moved him. But as soon as we got here not even an half hour later the Hospice nurse gave him another full dose of the pain med. In the hospital they only gave it to him when he needed it or asked for it. I told the Hospice nurse he already had the pain med before they moved him. After that my husband became unresponsive to all of us and within 12 hours he passed away. He was only 61 years old. I don't understand why they kept him dope up. He never got the chance to say his goodbyes to his family. When my husband father died in 1974 they didn't do that and he got to say good bye to all of us. Yes I'm in pain of losing him, but I feel Hospice are legal killers. Oh by the way this is not first time I dealt with them, this was the third time. They did the same thing to my mother and my husband's mother. His mother was in no pain and they started doping her up right away. They say that is dignity & respect, no it is not, because that is not what my husband wanted. He thought he had more time so we talk about things and we never got the chance thanks to Hospice doping him up and hurrying up his death.

I am a Hospice nurse and proud of it!! I DO NOT KILL PEOPLE!!Medicare has criteria that a person has to meet to qualify for benefits. They are different, depending on what the problem is. A Dr has to order an evaluation. By doing this, he is saying that if the disease follows the "normal" course, the patient's life expectancy is 6 months or less. Order obtained, a nurse evaluates, and if appropriate, admits. Then the Dr is contacted for orders. Often people who are terminally ill are in pain, and they (the patient)often say "please promise I won't die in pain".Now, we educate the family members who are caring for them at home on MANY things. We are available 24 hours a day 7 days a week for whatever the pt/ caregiver needs.I am so sorry that some of you have had such horrible experiences, but it is not like that with every Hospice!! Often one person is in charge of the care (Health care POA) This is the person who the patient has decided will make the decisions that they would make if they could. It is a very hard position to be in...I have also taken care of my mother as she died with metastatic bone cancer. I did promise her that her pain would be controlled, and I had to fight to get more medicine!! No, I didn't want her snowed, but she deserved to have her pain controlled. Yes she was confused at times, but at other times very lucid. She chose not to eat or drink, because it made her feel sick. We were lucky enough to have her teel us that...but if she couldn't have we may have assumed it was secondary to medication side effects....
Bottom line.....PLEASE don't deny a loved one Hospice care. Look in to the company...meet with the team, ASK QUESTIONS!! But don't assume that they are all the same. THEY ARE NOT!!!