• 0
• 0
• 0

Summary

In this 2025 conversation with Justine Willis Toms, Lonny Shavelson, M.D., a national leader in medical aid in dying, reframes it as compassionate end-of-life care rooted in honest conversation, emotional support, and patient choice. He dispels myths equating it with suicide, explains safeguards against coercion, and highlights the importance of multidisciplinary, whole-person care. 
 Dr. Shavelson is a California physician best known as a national leader in medical aid in dying for terminally ill patients. Dr Shavelson worked for nearly three decades as an emergency department physician in Berkeley, California, and later served as a primary care doctor in a clinic for immigrants and refugees. He's a founder and Board Chair of the Academy of Medical Aid-In-Dying, where he helps develop best practices, clinician education, and policy in this emerging field. He has also consulted widely with hospitals, ethics committees, and state efforts to implement aid-in-dying laws. He is the author of A Chosen Death (Simon & Schuster 1995) and Medical Aid In Dying: A Guide For Patients And Their Supporters (American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying, 2022)

Duration: about 1 hour (00:57:14)
Publishing date: 2026-01-16; Unabridged; Copyright Year: — Copyright Statment: —

• Science & Technology
• Body, Mind & Spirit
• University Textbooks & Dictionaries