Joe Loconte

In the following viewpoint, Joe Loconte contends that hospice care, not assisted suicide, is the best solution to people’s fears about dying a prolonged, painful death. Despite claims to the contrary, writes Loconte, most dying patients’ suffering can be controlled, but often is not because doctors are undertrained in end-of-life care. In the author’s opinion, increasing the availability of hospice care would end the movement to legalize assisted suicide because it would assure people that they will receive attention and care throughout the dying process. Joe Loconte is deputy editor of the conservative magazine Policy Review, from which this viewpoint is excerpted.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. Where are patients under hospice care usually treated?
2. How has Ira Byock responded to Timothy Quill’s assertion that the...