Question: If I am dying, does my doctor have to give me the note (for a fatal prescription), or can he refuse? I don’t think he wants any of his patients to die. If he can refuse, I would have to get another doctor, which is a lot at my age.
Answer: No, your regular doctor does not have to participate in your medically assisted death, even if you are terminally ill and want to exercise your right under a Hawaii law that takes effect in January. So, yes, your doctor can refuse, and, yes, you would have to find another doctor (two, actually) willing to help further your intent. Neither doctor would actually administer the lethal dose. You (the patient) must be able to do that yourself.
We want to be very clear, as we have heard from several readers who seem confused about any doctor’s role in the new Our Care, Our Choice Act. We encourage you to read the law in full at 808ne.ws/deathlaw.
“The law is permissive rather than compelling, meaning participation is a choice,” said Lorrin Kim, chief of the state Department of Health’s Planning Office.
Protections for health care providers are spelled out in the immunity portion of the law, which you can find in Section 19, starting on Page 22 of the link we mentioned. Provisions make clear that health care providers cannot be forced to participate in a patient’s medically assisted death, and neither can they be punished for doing so, as long as they act according to the law.
The section also says that “if a health-care provider is unable or unwilling to carry out a patient’s request” and the patient finds a new health care provider, the former provider must transfer relevant medical records to the new provider at the patient’s request.
To answer another reader’s question, yes, the law contains safeguards to deter “snap decisions” by suffering people. Eligible patients must make repeated requests for the lethal prescription in a reviewed process that takes at least three weeks. You can read specifics in the law, or in Honolulu Star-Advertiser reporter Kristen Consillio’s recent story about it, at 808ne.ws/1017sa.
Q: I received a text message on Oct. 16 at 3:47 p.m. thanking me for using the Biki bike and saying that it has been successfully docked. I have never used a Biki bike. Will I be billed for this, and how can I have it canceled or removed?
A: No, you won’t be billed, and you may delete or ignore the text, which must have been sent by mistake, said Kelvin Tjia, CEO of Secure Bike Share Hawaii LLC, the company that operates Honolulu’s Biki bikeshare program in a public/private/nonprofit partnership.
Biki users are asked to input a mobile number when they rent a bike. “Unfortunately, if a user accidentally enters the wrong phone number when signing up to use Biki, that incorrect phone number gets a text message confirming when a Biki has successfully docked,” he said.
The mobile phone input is separate from secure billing information, Tjia said. Biki has no billing information about you.
You and anyone else who has received a misdirected text message from Biki may call 888-340-2454 or email support@gobiki.org to remove your phone number from a user’s profile.
Mahalo
Running through the rain on Oct. 6 with my umbrella and Chinese food from Kin Wah, I unknowingly dropped my wallet in the pouring rain! Got home and couldn’t find my wallet in my truck. Called the restaurant hoping I might have left it there. The cashier said that someone found it outside in the rain. Thank you, whoever you are. Would have had to redo all my IDs. All the contents were there, including the money. I’m humbled by your action. — Viet vet
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
