Nancy Neveloff Dubler

About the author: Nancy Neveloff Dubler writes for the Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics and has been a board member and president of the American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics, an organization dedicated to promoting high-quality scholarship, debate, and critical thought in law, health care, and ethics.

With the public advocating longer prison sentences, the passage of "three strikes and you're out" laws, and the increasing numbers of prisoners infected with HIV, more inmates are dying in prison. Proper end-of-life care, including access to spiritual counseling, pain relief, and support from friends and family, collides with prison policies. These policies must be changed to provide end-of-life health care in prisons that is comparable to the care available in the surrounding community. Terminally ill prisoners whose infirmities render them no threat to...