Resources: VSED
Voluntarily Stopping Eating and DrinkingWhat is VSED?
VSED (pronounced “vee-sed”) stands for Voluntarily Stopping Eating & Drinking, and is also sometimes known as terminal or end-of-life fasting. Many people lose their appetites at the end of their lives and stop eating as their body’s organs shut down. Others deliberately choose to stop eating and drinking in order to hasten their death. This end-of-life choice is known as VSED.
Who is most likely to use VSED?
People with certain diseases—especially degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, ALS, Parkinson’s and MS—do not qualify for hospice care or Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) through Washington State’s Death with Dignity (DWD) law.* Because of their suffering, VSED may be the only option for them to maintain autonomy at the end of their life.
VSED is legally available in every US state. However, stopping eating and drinking requires careful planning and robust medical support. VSED must be done with caregiver support and should never be undertaken alone without proper consideration, planning, and assistance.
*Washington State’s Death with Dignity law requires that a person be mentally competent and have received a terminal diagnosis with a six-month prognosis in order to make the decision to end their life. Because of these requirements, people with dementia or another diagnosis without a six-month prognosis do not qualify for DWD. However, as long as a person is mentally competent (i.e., physically ill or in the early stages of dementia), they can legally choose to end their life using VSED.
VSED Handbook
A Practical Guide to Voluntarily
Stopping Eating and Drinking
Kate Christie
Second Growth Books, 2022
A clear, short read for those who contemplate, or have family that contemplates “VSED”. Essential.
Choosing to Die
A Personal Story: Elective Death by Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking (VSED) in the Face of Degenerative Disease
Phyllis Shacter
Second Growth Books, 2017
This is a personal story of one that chose VSED. It’s informative about an option we should all be aware of.
VSED Resources Northwest
Working to increase awareness of Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking (VSED), because compassionate death is a human right.
(VSED Resources Northwest is an invaluable, extensive resource for anyone researching VSED as an option, making plans to follow this path, or support someone through VSED.
Clinical Guidelines for (VSED) Published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management (JPSM)
Hope Wechkin, MD ∙ Robert Macauley, MD ∙ Paul T. Menzel, PhD ∙ Peter L. Reagan, MD ∙ Nancy Simmers, BS, BSN, RN ∙ Timothy E. Quill, MD
On June 21, 2023, the first published comprehensive clinical guidelines for Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking (VSED) in the United States appeared in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management (JPSM). Follow the link to read and/or download the guidelines.
https://www.jpsmjournal.com/article/S0885-3924(23)00565-1/fulltext
PODCAST: #145 VSED Part 1: One Family’s Experience of a Terminal Fast – Kate Christie, Author of The VSED Handbook
Kate Christie and her family went through the experience of VSED when her mother chose to “voluntarily stop eating and drinking.” This choice to hasten death is not to be undertaken lightly, but it is a true choice that is legal and available to anyone. How does it work? Why would someone choose this? What was the experience like for Kate, her father, and her mother? Learn about her experience as the daughter and what is critical to have in place for VSED to painlessly succeed.
https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/best-life-best-death/145-vsed-part-1-one-familys-x2Tqiew9m6I/
PODCAST: #146 VSED Part 2: Understanding Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking – Nancy Simmers BSN, RN, Death Doula
Nancy Simmers served as the death doula for Kate Christie’s mother when she chose VSED (Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking) to hasten her death. How did Nancy’s path take her from working as a birth doula to becoming a death doula? How did her expertise grow over the years? How does she support the individual and the family in a VSED situation? What are the three typical parts of a death by VSED? This two-part podcast is an eye-opener on a subject that most of us know little about.
https://www.jpsmjournal.com/article/S0885-3924(23)00565-1/fulltext
SED by AD: Stopping Eating and Drinking by Advance Directive
The purpose of My Instructions for Oral Feeding and Drinking is to stop attempts to give you food and water if, because of progressive dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease, (1) you become unable to feed yourself and you lose interest in eating or drinking, or (2) instead of swallowing food and water, you breathe them into your lungs.
Advance Directive for Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking (VSED Directive)
Authored By: Northwest Justice Project & National VSED Advance Directive Committee
Use this self-help form to fill out a VSED Directive. It expresses your end-of-life wishes if dementia or other progressive illnesses cause you to lose the ability to make your own health care decisions. This VSED Directive can be used anywhere in the United States.
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