Literature Review

Central Mass. man guilty of stealing patients’ opioid pills Mass Live; by Mike Grimala; 9/24/26 A man who worked at a Central Massachusetts hospice facility pleaded guilty to stealing patients’ opioids and taking them himself. Andrew Milgrim, a 41-year-old Gardner resident, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of tampering with a consumer product, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.  From 2024 to 2025, Milgrim diverted Oxycodone from patients at a hospice and memory care provider in Leominster, prosecutors said. Instead of dispensing Oxycodone pills that were prescribed to dementia patients, Milgrim consumed the pills himself.

Central Illinois nursing home fined $25K by state after resident's death Pekin Daily Times, Perioa, IL; by Zach Roth; 9/6/26 A Canton nursing home was fined $25,000 after a resident died last year after being taken off medication that was prescribed to prevent blood clots. ... On March 31, 2025, a verbal order was given to stop providing Xarelto because the woman began hospice care one month prior. ... The care plan noted that she had a history of strokes and that medication needed to be provided as ordered by her doctor. ... The hospice's owner said that the power of attorney had contacted them after the woman had died asking about the medication situation, noting that they hadn't seen anything to show that her Xarelto had been discontinued. The hospice owner also said that they hadn't received an order from a hospice physician or nurse to discontinue it. Editor's Note: Details are more complex than space allows in the short summary above. A verbal order to stop a medication, without a documented physician directive or clear communications with the family, is a quiet risk hiding in plain sight at hospice transitions — one that can hasten death rather than ease it. Deprescribing has its place in end-of-life care, but only through structured, physician-ordered, shared decision-making. Does your hospice's process protect against this, or could it happen to one of your patients tomorrow? 

[Israel] Hadassah Hospice: bringing meaning it life Hadassay.org | Medicine & Research, Jerusalem, Israel; Press Release; 8/26/26 "Outside, there may be conflicts and wars, but inside these walls is a small microcosm, disconnected from the outer world, that concentrates on humanity." This is how Dr. Daniel Azoulay described the Inna and Jack Kay Hospice at Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus. ... This October, the hospice is marking 40 years since its founding by Dr. Reuven Fink and nurse Ruth Shahal-Gassner. In the quiet place Dr. Azoulay describes, the staff provides end-of-life palliative care to some 220 patients every year. "There's a closeness here among Jews and Muslims, religious and secular people. At the end of life, everyone is the same — everybody asks that their suffering be alleviated and battles the same anxieties and fears," said Dr. Azoulay, who is head of palliative service and responsible for the Hospice Department.Editor's Note: May we listen and learn. In the midst of our deluge of political wars each way we turn, may we find ways to "concentrate on humanity." Read again: "There's a closeness here among Jews and Muslims, religious and secular people. At the end of life, everyone is the same — everybody asks that their suffering be alleviated and battles the same anxieties and fears."

World Hospice and Palliative Care Day, Oct. 10, 2026, with theme "Pain management - an essential part of palliative careWorldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA); Press Release; 8/7/26World Hospice and Palliative Care Day is an annual unified day of action to celebrate and support hospice and palliative care around the world. WHPCD has been marked every year since 2005. Join us on Saturday 10 October 2026 to advocate for better hospice and palliative care services around the world.

Gerontology student Hope Niedrich speaks to the heart of life, death, and belief University of North Carolina Greenville (UNCG), Greenville, NC; by Janet Imrick; 7/2/26 “How would you like your mom or dad or your grandma or grandpa to be treated?” That question summarizes the ideology of Hope Niedrich, who just defended her capstone project before  the faculty in UNC Greensboro’s [master's] gerontology program. That research, she hopes, will improve care for aging populations, whether they’re in her care or with another professional or family caregiver. “Hopefully, we can all show up and treat these people like we would want the adults in our lives to be treated,” she says. ... For her capstone, she created educational guides for volunteers to bridge cultural and religious differences and ensure end-of-life patients receive the utmost comfort and dignity.

Early palliative integration for heart failure Medscape; by Karel De Pourcq, PhD; 5/27/26 ... Chronic conditions such as heart failure often bring relentless symptoms, repeated hospital admissions, and deep emotional and social effects for patients and their families. Bringing a palliative perspective into care widens the focus beyond disease-directed treatments to include ongoing symptom relief, emotional support, and help for overburdened caregivers. It also promotes early, shared planning about treatment intensity — deciding when worsening episodes can be managed at home vs when hospitalization is needed — and clarifying care goals as the illness progresses.