What is Marsha’s Law?
By creating an official record confirming that family members and other caregivers have been trained and deputized to use the medications provided in prescribed comfort kits, Marsha’s Law would help close dangerous gaps in home hospice care.
Marsha’s Law ensures:
Transparency
The hospice provider would create a signed and witnessed document showing that family or other caregivers have been trained and authorized by qualified hospice staff to administer the medications in the comfort kit.
Accountability
Marsha’s Law would require home hospice providers to document what medications are included in the comfort kit, advised dosing ranges, and who is legally authorized to administer these medications to the patient receiving hospice care.
Reassurance
Hospice providers would also be required to maintain a copy of this document and provide it to law enforcement or the coroner in the event of an investigation. This would give legal clarity on who is authorized to administer medications to hospice patients.
Why do we need Marsha’s Law?
Every year, nearly 2 million American families are prescribed and instructed to use comfort kits to ease suffering and distress in their dying loved ones. These comfort kits typically contain controlled substances like sublingual morphine, benzodiazepines, and other medications.
But even though caregivers are expected to medicate their loved ones using these comfort kits, there are no legal protections that shield them from criminal allegations once their loved one passes away.
In fact, depending on the hospice company, there is often little to no documentation showing that family members are authorized to give their loved ones these medications at all.
As a result, law enforcement, medical examiners, and district attorneys who are unfamiliar with hospice practices may think that family members who give their loved one these controlled substances are committing a crime.
For the 1.9 million American families who rely on hospice care every year, such a gap is simply too risky to leave open. This is especially critical as relationships and understanding of roles, rights, and responsibilities may become increasingly unclear or strained as a patient nears death.
Marsha's Law would mandate that every family prescribed a comfort kit receives a signed document that the kit is for them to use in accordance with their training.
This document could be kept with the comfort kit so that, in the event of an investigation, law enforcement would have a record showing that the family and/or other caregivers had been authorized by the hospice provider to administer these medications to the patient.
Help make Marsha’s Law a reality for all
No child, sibling, spouse, or other caregiver should ever have to face criminal charges simply for providing legally prescribed comfort care to their dying loved one.
With your help, we can ensure that millions of people who rely on hospice are protected while acting in good faith as caregivers to their dying loved ones.