"We're on the threshold of the first-ever mass geriatric society," says Dr. Leon Kass, chairman of the President's Council on Bioethics from 2002 to 2005. "The bad news is that the price that many people are going to be paying for [an] extra decade of healthy longevity is up to another decade of anything but healthy longevity... We've not yet begun to face up to what this means in human terms."
I've never understood the humanity, compassion or purpose of warehousing the old in what one geriatric resident called "the waiting room," institutions where they sit out their final weeks, months, or years, cared for, waiting to die. Now if an individual wants this, fine. Some old folks actually blossom in these environments. But there also needs to be an institutionalized alternative for those who do not want to be there.
I belong to a small minority that supports doctor-assisted-suicide for any retired person who wants it, whether or not they have a terminal illness. This will not happen, however. I am a realist enough to see this. Consequently I believe seniors who do not want to be warehoused have the responsibility to educate themselves about alternatives. One place to begin is with the book
Final Exit by Derek Humphry. I have a copy close by on my bookshelf.
More information and other resources can be found at Euthenasia.com.
This is a complex and sometimes controversial issue. Here is a resource for pro & con resources.
The Frontline show is worth checking out.
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