Medical aid in dying is a relatively recent option in U.S. medicine, now available in a growing number of states, yet it remains widely misunderstood and emotionally fraught. In this dialogue, Dr. Lonny Shavelson, an emergency physician turned national leader in end-of-life care, describes how his work is less about “prescribing death” and more about accompanying people through one of life’s most intimate thresholds. He shares how early family experiences with illness and suicide shaped his comfort in talking frankly about dying and explains what aid-in-dying laws allow, including rigorous safeguards, careful assessments of prognosis and capacity, and repeated opportunities to pause or change course. Along the way, he dispels common myths that equate medical aid in dying with suicide, addresses concerns about coercion and vulnerable populations, and highlights the crucial role of a multidisciplinary team—hospice, palliative care, social workers, chaplains, and trained death doulas—in helping each person articulate and experience their “best possible death.”
