On March 20, 2026, Northwest Washington online news organization Salish Current published “VSED awareness continues for those unable to use state’s Death with Dignity Act,” featuring interviews with VRNW co-founder Nancy Simmers and current board member Kate Christie. According to the article’s subtitle, “A legal end-of-life process, Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking, is gaining […]
Article about VSED in the Salish Current 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
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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
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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
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British co-authors Anna Wharton and Wendy Mitchell penned three bestselling books before Wendy, diagnosed in 2014 with early-onset Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia, chose VSED to escape the final stages of her disease. Shortly after Wendy’s death in February 2024, Anna wrote a post for her blog, White Ink, about medical aid in dying in the
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In February 2024, after a decade-long battle with early-onset dementia, British author Wendy Mitchell chose to stop eating and drinking. She details her decision-making process in a post titled, “My final hug in a mug….” on the blog Which Me am I Today? Wendy started her blog shortly after her diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s and vascular
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The VSED Handbook, written by VRNW member Kate Christie and with a foreword from VRNW co-founder Nancy Simmers, has lately gotten some attention in varying parts of the country. In February, Patient Choices Vermont–a non-profit organization dedicated to end-of-life choice–published a review on their website. Susan Gillotti, PCV Board Member, had this to say about
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