April 16, 2024
(The New Yorker) – On a recent afternoon, I chased my three-year-old daughter around the playground for an hour. When we returned home, she spread a jigsaw puzzle out on the floor and looked up expectantly. I liked the idea … Read More
April 12, 2024
(ABC News) – “Medical-aid in dying is not me choosing to die,” she says she told her 17-year-old grandson. “I am going to die. But it is my way of having a little bit more control over what it looks … Read More
April 5, 2024
(Undark) – Various commercial products known as “griefbots” create a simulation of a lost loved one. Built on artificial intelligence that makes use of large language models, or LLMs, the bots imitate the particular way the deceased person talked by … Read More
March 25, 2024
(New York Times) – “When I was present at the bedside of the dying, I was confronted by what I had seen and tried so hard to forget from my childhood. I saw dying patients reaching and calling out to … Read More
March 25, 2024
March 22, 2024
(NPR) – Seven states have legalized human composting to date, including Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Nevada, Vermont, and New York. It took California lawmakers three tries to pass a law to do the same, but it won’t take effect until 2027. … Read More
March 13, 2024
March 8, 2024
(Chicago Tribune) – For that reason, and others, we believe that Illinois should not pass this legislation and join the 11 jurisdictions (California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Montana, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and Washington) that have … Read More
March 6, 2024
(The Economist) – In fiction, hard-pressed pathologists presented with a corpse are able to take a bite of their sandwich and instantly pronounce a time of death. Reality is, of course, a lot messier, and the results—or lack of them—can … Read More
March 4, 2024
(Maryland The Daily Record) – Lawmakers have tabled a fiercely debated bill that would have granted terminally ill Maryland residents the right to end their lives, a setback to supporters who hoped it would finally pass this year. Senate President … Read More
February 26, 2024
(New Scientist) – Resurrecting deceased loved ones using artificial intelligence could harm mental health, create dependence on the technology and even spur a new religion, researchers have warned. (Read More)
February 21, 2024
February 19, 2024
(ABC News) – Since Jimmy Carter entered hospice care at his home in south Georgia one year ago, the former U.S. president has celebrated his 99th birthday, enjoyed tributes to his legacy and lost his wife of 77 years. (Read … Read More
February 15, 2024
(Wall Street Journal) – Joaquin Oliver was killed in the Parkland school shooting. Now with AI, the 17-year-old’s voice can be heard again. WSJ’s Joanna Stern sat down with Joaquin’s parents to find out how and why they are preserving … Read More
February 14, 2024
(The Atlantic) – Death reminds us of the limits of romantic love, but it also sets romantic love free. It allows love to take its place alongside other goods, some that last and others that are fleeting. Death brings a … Read More
February 12, 2024
(NPR) – A new film streaming on Hulu considers a subject that’s sometimes in the news, but not often in entertainment: hospice end-of-life care. Suncoast is writer-director Laura Chinn’s fictional account of her life in the early 2000s as a … Read More
February 12, 2024
(NPR) – The debate is focused on the Uniform Determination of Death Act, a law that was adopted by most states in the 1980s. The law says that death can be declared if someone has experienced “irreversible cessation of all … Read More
February 9, 2024
(Axios) – A push to let physicians prescribe life-ending drugs to terminally ill patients is getting major attention in statehouses this year, with lawmakers in 19 states considering bills to allow the practice. The big picture: Despite continuing skepticism from … Read More
February 5, 2024
(Wall Street Journal) – Unethical funeral homes have exploited grieving customers for decades. What consumers don’t know is that many of the industry’s bad actors have been hidden from the public thanks to a sweetheart deal struck between the Federal … Read More
February 2, 2024
January 9, 2024
(Nature) – The Digital Departed: How We Face Death, Commemorate Life, and Chase Virtual Immortality Timothy Recuber NYU Press (2023) Many of us will have turned to the Internet to grieve and remember the dead — by posting messages on … Read More
January 3, 2024
(New York Times) – Naomi’s therapist had printed out an article for her to read. It was called “Medical Futility and Psychiatry: Palliative Care and Hospice Care as a Last Resort in the Treatment of Refractory Anorexia Nervosa,” published in … Read More
December 28, 2023
(NPR) – We’ve seen it so many times. A young, handsome man rushed into the emergency room with a gunshot wound. A flurry of white coats racing the clock: CPR, the heart zapper, the order for a scalpel. Stat! Then … Read More
December 28, 2023
(NPR) – Many assumed the decision meant that Carter wouldn’t be alive for much longer. But contrary to popular belief, hospice care isn’t necessarily only for people who have just a few days to live, nor does it mean giving … Read More
December 21, 2023
(NBC News) – Death investigation experts say these mistakes are preventable. Coroners and medical examiners, they say, should adopt detailed written protocols for identifying and contacting next of kin. And when exhaustive efforts to find families fall short, experts say … Read More
