Forms
Forms
Tools to Document Health Care Decisions
Sudden illness or accident can happen to anyone at any time. These forms enable adults to appoint a health care agent and to document their priorities and preferences for future health care needs.
Medical Decision-Making
Medical Decision-Making
Taking Steps Vermont
There may come a time when you are unable to speak for yourself. The best way to ensure that your wishes are known and honored is to talk with those closest to you and your health care providers about what matters most.
Start Taking Steps TodayMedical Ethics
Medical Ethics
Relevant Topics in Bioethics
Medical ethics is a field of study that draws from philosophy, law and medicine. There are four core principles in bioethics that define the ethical obligations that health care providers owe to patients. The application of these principles to individual cases can be helpful in resolving difficult questions that arise in health care.
Learn MorePalliative & End-of-Life Care
Palliative & End-of-Life Care
Information for those living with serious illness
Palliative care is specialized care that is directed at managing the symptoms of those who are living with serious or advanced illness. It is appropriate for individuals who are seeking treatment for their disease, as well as for those who have shifted their goals to a more comfort-directed plan of care.
Learn MoreLatest News & Upcoming Events
Register Now! Clinician Information Sessions for New 2022 DNR/COLST Form
On June 1, 2022, Vermont will be launching an updated version of the DNR/COLST form. Join Cindy Bruzzese, Clinical Ethicist & Executive Director of the Vermont Ethics Network, for a step-by-step tutorial on the new 2022 Vermont DNR/COLST form and a review of best practices for completing medical orders with patients & surrogates. Open Sessions: Session 1: Thursday, April 14th, 2022 from 12:00-1:15pm Session 2: Tuesday, April 26th, 2022 from 12:00-1:15pm Session 3: Wednesday, May 11th, 2022 from 12:00-1:15pm Session 4: Thursday, May 26th, 2022 from 12:00-1:15pm Sessions will be virtual, via Zoom. Once registered, the Zoom link will be sent to you via email.
Register Today »MAID Without Borders? Oregon Drops the Residency Requirement
(The Hastings Center) Oregon, which legalized medical aid-in-dying (MAID) in 1997, has dropped the requirement that had limited MAID access to residents of the state. Under a settlement of a lawsuit filed in federal court by the advocacy group Compassion & Choices, Oregon public health officials will no longer apply or enforce this requirement as part of eligibility criteria for MAID. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of an Oregon physician who challenged the state’s residency requirement and its consequences for his patients in neighboring Washington State.
Read More »When Faced With Death, People Often Change Their Minds
"My patient had done everything possible to avoid being intubated. After a traumatic hospitalization when she was young, she had consistently told her loved ones that she would never again agree to a breathing tube. She had even filled out an advance directive years ago to formalize that decision . . ."
Read More »Reckoning with Anti-Black Racism in Bioethics: Key Takeaways
"The field of bioethics has a moral responsibility to respond to the continued racial and health inequities confronting Black, Indigenous, and other people of color. Along with several colleagues, we formed an antiracism task force to interrogate that moral responsibility, assess what bioethics has done so far, explore what bioethics can and should do, and bear witness to the longstanding health and health care injustices, including those exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic....Here, we briefly describe key takeaways from this session, and we encourage readers to listen to the recorded session for more details."
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