Political Quotes

“I started my day with my friend and colleague Dr. Phil Roe, a Republican Congressman from Tennessee. We met with representatives from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. These dedicated professionals deal with helping patients and their families contend with some of the most difficult circumstances any of us will ever face: loved ones in pain with difficult medical conditions at the end of life. We were discussing legislation that Dr. Roe and I have cosponsored-- the Personalize Your Care Act of 2013, H.R. 1173. Despite widespread agreement in principle that individuals should be fully involved with decisions related to their health care, too often, this is not the reality. Most adults have not completed an advanced directive. If documents are completed, they are not regularly revisited and can be difficult to locate when needed. Because these issues are difficult to discuss, often surrogates feel ill-prepared to interpret their loved ones' written wishes. These shortcomings leave families and health care proxies faced with the burden of determining their loved ones' wishes in the midst of crisis, adding greater stress and anxiety. One of the great misconceptions about advanced care planning is that it is a onetime event. Attempting to plan for all of the possibilities in a single document or within a single conversation is both overwhelming and impossible.…”