When the Terri Schiavo case catapulted to the top of the news in 2005, it was not the first time the end-of-life discussion was brought to the table for millions of families. There was Karen Ann Quinlan in 1976. There was Nancy Cruzan in 1990.
Feb. 18, 2009 – When the Terri Schiavo case catapulted to the top of the news in 2005, it was not the first time the end-of-life discussion was brought to the table for millions of families. There was Karen Ann Quinlan in 1976. There was Nancy Cruzan in 1990.
William H. Colby, who represented Cruzan’s family in the only case of this kind to go before the U.S. Supreme Court, and is the author of The Right to Die in America: Its Constitutional, Legal, and Medical Impact (chosen by the Library Journal as a “best consumer health book,” and Long Goodbye: The Deaths of Nancy Cruzan, will speak at the CLE Spotlight program at the State Bar Annual Convention in May.
Colby is a Senior Fellow, Law and Patient Rights, with the Center for Practical Bioethics in Kansas City, Mo. He is a frequent speaker and writer on the medical, legal, and ethical history of end-of-life decisions, implications of current laws and proposed legislation, and various medical options. He has appeared on national television and has written for national publications.
The CLE Spotlight Program, sponsored by the State Bar Elder Law Section, is scheduled for Thursday, May 7, 8:30 - 11:15 a.m. The State Bar Annual Convention will run from May 6 to 8 at the Midwest Airlines Center in Milwaukee.
