End of Life Act Overturned

By Sarada Lewis, RN, BSN, PHN, CHPN

In case you were not aware, there is a judge named Daniel Ottolia, in Riverside last week whom decided to overturn the End Of Life Option Act for California.

He decided in a case that the law was invalid. Even though we the people voted it in at the ballot box! As many of you know I specialize in hospice and palliative nursing, and this ruling really is WRONG. My patients now don’t have an option to end their lives if they choose to do so in a dignified way, the compassionate choice to use Aid in Dying meds are now illegal. Patients are being told they cannot use these meds throughout California. Shame on this Judge Daniel Ottolia from Riverside.

Patients whom are currently on hospice, and already have these meds in the home, are not allowed to use them it’s considered illegal. I mean, come on, what else can we do in this political age to beat down even further the downtrodden? There answer to this has occurred, to pull the rug of “choice” out from under the feet of our dying population.

I am going to provide the contact information for this judge and encourage you to write the executive office that oversees him a letter of public comment.

Riverside Courthouse
Executive Office- Presiding Judge
4050 Main Street
Riverside, CA 92501

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6 Comments

  1. I am obviously no legal expert so please help me out – how can a single judge overturn a proposition voted in by a State majority? Maybe he can rule as such in his own court (erroneously perhaps), but have it mandated in the entire State? Something seems amiss. And I do not need any help to say screw you judge Ottolia!

  2. I guess we can begin to change our residencies to Oregon again because they don’t have idiot judges there to invalidate laws on technicalities. I took care of a hospice dog with a tumor once. When the tumor burst, I gave him a bunch of opiods and got him into the vet the next morning. He passed away surrounded by people that loved him and with tidbits of Chicken Ranch tri-tip next to him. It seemed a very compassionate ending, and I hope someday to have the same for myself. It would be nice if it could be in California.

  3. This idea that we can simply attack a judge when we don’t like her or his ruling is very Trumpian. As much as I disagree with this opinion I believe there are legal processes available to remedy the wrong. Let’s not become a lynch mob.

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