Ex-Doctor Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter in Connection with Suicide of Upstate New York Woman

BY  MICHAEL HILL 

Updated 2:57 PM MDT, September3, 2024

KINGSTON, N.Y. (AP) — An 85-year-old former doctor from Arizona charged for his role in the suicide of a woman in an upstate New York motel room pleaded guilty to manslaughter Tuesday under an agreement that spares him from prison.

Stephen Miller, of Tucson, was arrested earlier this year on a charge of second-degree manslaughter under a provision of New York law that allows the charge for intentionally causing or aiding another person’s suicide.

Under a plea agreement, Miller was sentenced to five years of probation after his guilty plea in state court. His attorney said Miller is infirm and did not want to die in prison.

Not Dead Yet Comment on Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association’s Statement on “MAiD”

Not Dead Yet is a national disability rights organization focused on combatting disability based healthcare discrimination, particularly in the context of advanced or terminal illness. We are extremely disappointed that HPNA [Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association] would consider adopting a “stance of engaged neutrality” regarding whether assisted suicide should be permitted or prohibited. We urge HPNA to reverse course.

Moreover, although the proposed position statement [download available here] claims neutrality, its content reads like a defense and sometimes an outright promotion of a public policy of assisted suicide. Although only 11 jurisdictions have legalized the practice, HPNA’s statement says, “All hospice and palliative nurses should develop competence and mastery regarding MAiD in the domains of education, clinical practice, research, advocacy, and leadership.” HPNA appears not to have considered the views of either palliative care experts or disability rights activists who oppose the practice. The statement includes only limited references and minimal tolerance toward nurses who object to the practice.

HPNA tries to explain why assisted suicide should be referred to as “medical aid in dying” or MAiD for short. These are marketing terms. As Dr. Ira Byock, a palliative care specialist has written, “‘aid in dying’ makes it sound like giving someone a lethal drug is an extension of hospice and palliative care. It is not.”

Anita Cameron: "Black People, Wake Up and Remember Our History"

As we in the Black community celebrate freedom, liberation, and life on Juneteenth, there is a movement afoot that will endanger the lives of the most vulnerable in our community.

This dangerous movement is the push for legalization of assisted suicide, sometimes called medical assisted suicide, across the United States.

Assisted suicide is when someone, usually terminally ill, with six months or less to live, makes a request for a lethal dose of medication prescribed by a physician or medical provider.  After the waiting period, if there is one, the provider issues the prescription, the person or someone designated by them picks it up, and the medication is ingested by the person to whom it is prescribed. There is no doctor or witness required to be present .... Currently, assisted suicide is legal in ten US states and the District of Columbia. As of this year, 2024, 20 states have either introduced assisted suicide legislation or have expanded bills that have already passed.

Proposed Act Has Not Advanced Past Committee

The proposed Medical Aid in Dying Act, which had sought to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia in New York State, was first introduced in the New York State Senate by former Staten Island Sen. Diane Savino, — and in the Assembly by Westchester County Assemblymember Amy Paulin, — during the 2015-2016 legislative session. 

The legislation has never advanced past the committee state in either the New York State Senate or Assembly.

Letter to the Editor: Euphemisms Abound

To the Editor:

We wish to respond to Dr. Barry Perlman’s letter to the editor: “A vote for Medical Aid in Dying is not a vote for suicide” (May 28, 2024) He presents his case well. However, we take issue with his reasoning.

Euphemisms abound about this subject: physician-assisted suicide, death with dignity and physician-assisted dying. No matter how the concept is dressed up, it is suicide by the patient and murder by the doctor. Whoever else has been directly or indirectly involved in the demise of the patient are accessories.

S2245C/A995C, the [New York State] Medical Aid in Dying Act, must be voted down by our elected state senators and Assembly members. We can guarantee that in the future there will be abuses of this, regardless of limitations put in place in the legal package. 

James D. Dooher

K. Theresa Dooher 

https://www.syracuse.com/