'Nite of the Living Will' program explains new medically assisted dying law

The William S. Richardson School of Law's elder law program will again offer its popular “Nite of the Living Will" program on Halloween Eve, Tuesday, October 30. This year's focus is on end-of-life medical treatment decisions and advance-care planning, including an overview of the Act 2 “Our Care, Our Choice” law, enacted by the 2018 Legislature that becomes effective January 2019.

The free public event, which starts at 1 p.m. in the Davis Levin Livingston Moot Court Room at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, is aimed at elders, family caregivers and service providers.  

“This will help you communicate your wishes for end-of-life care, as well as to find out more about Hawai‘i’s new law on medically assisted dying,” said Professor James Pietsch, director of the elder law program.

Discussion will include informed consent/informed refusal; surrogate decision-making; advance directives, including individual instructions for health care; and durable powers of attorney for health care, plus provider orders for life-sustaining treatment.

Act 2 allows qualified patients in Hawai‘i with a medically confirmed terminal illness, who are predicted to have less than six months to live and who possess decision-making capacity, to determine their own medical care at the end of their lives. It allows a qualified patient to request and obtain a prescription to end the qualified patient's life.

In addition to law students, students from the Doctor of Nurse Practice program in the School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work and John A. Burns School of Medicine's Department of Geriatric Medicine and Palliative Care will be attending as part of their academic study of these complex issues. 

Parking is $5 in the Parking Structure.

To save a seat, call (808) 956-6544 or send an email to uhelp.edu@gmail.com.