Patient Rights at the End of Life

Scholar lecture at COCC addresses end-of-life rights

The laws and policies affecting terminally ill patients are the topic of a Nancy R. Chandler Visiting Scholar Program presentation at Central Oregon Community College at 6:30 p.m., on Tuesday, Dec. 3, in the Coats Campus Center’s Wille Hall. Kathryn L. Tucker, J.D., will discuss “Patient Rights at the End of Life: The Evolving Landscape of Law, Medicine & Policy,” and tickets to this COCC Foundation event are $10; visit cocc.edu/foundation.

Tucker’s presentation will cover the history and evolution of laws surrounding end-of-life care, and touch on aspects – from access to autonomy – that patients face to ensure that a journey through terminal illness is consistent with a person’s preferences, values and beliefs.

The executive director of the End of Life Liberty Project, Tucker has been a leading force in the effort to protect and expand the rights of terminally ill patients in the U.S. for more than 25 years. She has argued a landmark case before the U.S. Supreme Court related to rights at the end of life. She played a key role in successfully defending the Oregon Death with Dignity Act. Tucker has held faculty appointments in the law schools of Loyola-Los Angeles, University of Washington, Seattle University and Lewis & Clark College, and she was a Fulbright Foundation law scholar in New Zealand.

For more information on this event, contact Charlotte Gilbride, coordinator for the Foundation’s Nancy R. Chandler Visiting Scholar Program, at 541-383-7257 or cgilbride@cocc.edu. This event is sponsored by the Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund and Associated Students of COCC.

In advance of college events, persons needing accommodation or transportation because of a physical or mobility disability, contact Joe Viola at 541-383-7775. For accommodation because of other disability such as hearing impairment, contact Disability Services at 541-383-7583.