by Kate Christie, VRNW board member In mid-February, Josselyn Winslow, co-founder and longtime board member of VSED Resources Northwest, became ill. Then came a fall. That was all it took–Josselyn was 95 years old and had lived a long, full life. She let her family, close friends, and medical team know that she would soon […]
VSED Resources NW Loses a Guiding Light Read More »
Jim Nowlan, a retired professor of American politics who lives in Illinois, wrote an opinion piece about the right to stop eating and drinking that was picked up by Trib Total Media in Western Pennsylvania (among other publications) titled, “Our Way of Dying is Evolving.” Here is an excerpt: I had my state rep contact
Opinion Piece on VSED from the Tribune News Service Read More »
In mid-January, board member Kate Christie found her book The VSED Handbook suddenly and unceremoniously blocked on Amazon KDP, where she had published the Kindle and print editions in 2022. In effect, this move banned her book from sale on the bookselling giant’s platform. When she asked to know why publication was being blocked after
Amazon Bans End-of-Life Books Read More »
Recently, the plenary assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) approved a revised version of the Ethical and Religious Directives (ERDs) for Catholic Health Care Services. The ERDs outline the USCCB’s directives to Catholic-owned and operated health care institutions including hospitals, geriatric practices, hospice organizations, and long-term care facilities. In this, the 7th
American Bishops Ban VSED in Catholic Healthcare Read More »
VRNW board member Kate Christie recently offered an introduction to VSED via Zoom to a residential facility in California. The presentation focused on the basics of voluntarily stopping eating and drinking, including the following topics: In addition to exploring clinical information about VSED, Christie explained how both of her parents used VSED to hasten their
New VSED 101 Video from VSED Resources NW Read More »
From Diane Hullet, End of Life Doula, Podcaster, and founder of Best Life Best Death (BLBD) podcast, episode #201: “On BLBD episode #145, one year ago, Kate [author of The VSED Handbook] and I talked extensively about VSED, Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking. Her mother chose VSED to hasten her death, and we discussed her
Reblog: Best Life Best Death Podcast #201, VSED Part 3: An Update – Kate Christie Read More »
In May and June of this year, VSED Resources board member (and author of The VSED Handbook) Kate Christie joined attorney Erin Glass in presenting on VSED at two Washington-based legal conferences. The first, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, met in Seattle and attracted members from all over the country. The second, the
VRNW Member Kate Christie Presents at NAELA and WSBA Read More »
In late 2024, Forbes Library in Northampton, Mass., hosted a conversation about Dr. Lewis Cohen’s latest book, Winter’s End, a case study of a patient with early-onset Alzheimer’s dementia who chose to use VSED to hasten his death before the late stages of the disease. Also on the discussion panel were Dr. Jeff Zesiger, a
End-of-life/VSED conversation between Lewis Cohen, Jeff Zesiger, and Fran Volkmann Read More »
In May, the Daily Hampshire Gazette in Northampton, Mass., published an article about a local woman’s new book, Herself to the End. Author Fran Volkmann decided to share the story of her late partner Joan Cenedella’s choice to hasten her death via VSED in order to spread awareness of VSED as a legal, valid end-of-life
New VSED Book: Herself to the End by Fran Volkmann Read More »
A new open access article was published in February 2025 in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management (JPSM). Co-authored by Hope Wechkin, Paul Menzel, Elizabeth Loggers, Thaddeus Pope, Peter Reagan, and Timothy Quill, the article discusses the approach of Minimal Comfort Feeding (MCF) for cases of advanced dementia. The abstract is below. To read
