Attorney General's News Release
September 13, 2007
Annual summit encourages Missourians, families to make end-of-life decisions now
Jefferson City, Mo. — The third annual Missouri End-of-Life Conference takes place in Jefferson City this week, bringing policymakers, healthcare experts and consumer advocates together to improve quality of life for Missourians.
The day-long end-of-life public policy summit is Friday, Sept. 14, beginning at 8:15 a.m., at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Jefferson City. Attorney General Jay Nixon is a sponsor of the event, which discusses end-of-life policy, pain management, communicating with loved ones and healthcare providers, nutrition and hydration. State legislators attending the summit will hold a policy discussion panel at 1:10 p.m.
The policy summit is intended to encourage Missourians to make decisions about the end of life and put them in writing. The summit will also assess whether Missouri laws are adequate to protect consumers and address that need. Keynote speaker Stephen Kiernan, author of the book Last Rights, talks about his research into the state of end-of-life care across the nation.
“The tragedies of Nancy Cruzan, Terri Schiavo and others underscore the need for Missourians to decide in writing what kind of medical care they want if they can’t speak for themselves,” Nixon said. “Also, we need an environment in Missouri that provides good quality of life for those in their final days.”
The Attorney General offers a publication called Life Choices, which helps walk Missourians through the legal and personal issues involved with end-of-life decision making. Life Choices was put together by Nixon’s office and the Missouri End-of-Life Coalition, and nearly 100,000 copies have been provided to Missouri consumers in the past three years. The publication is available at no charge by contacting Nixon’s office at 1-800-392-8222 or ago.mo.gov.
Lunch will be provided. To register or get additional information on the summit, contact the End-of-Life Coalition at 573-635-4999 or abickel@mo-endoflife.org.
Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).
All media inquiries should be directed to the Communications Office.
E-mail Phone: 573-751-8844 Fax: 573-751-5818