S6-EP8: Steven Petrow on His Sister Julie, the Importance of Choice, and Medical Aid in Dying

This is Season 6 of my [B]OLD AGE podcast. Thank you for listening! I interview authors, experts, and exceptional individuals to reveal the truths about [b]oldly moving from midlife to old age. I also talk about hard topics like death and dying and how to think about mortality. You can find over 100 previous episodes on Apple podcasts or on my website. - Debbie

Don’t miss the essay accompanying this episode:

Behind The Scenes with Steven Petrow

Show Notes

Summary
Debbie talks to bestselling author and Washington Post columnist Steven Petrow about his sister Julie's decision to end her life using a legal procedure called Medical Aid in Dying (MAID).

Episode Notes
In the Intro to this episode, you'll hear Steven Petrow talking about his sister Julie Petrow’s death last June 2023. After years of battling ovarian cancer, Julie, Steven’s five-years-younger little sister, chose to die in her New Jersey home by drinking a lethal cocktail. She was surrounded by her family. And it was legal. She used a procedure called MAID or medical aid in dying, which is now legal in 10 states in the U.S. plus the district of Columbia.

Julie Petrow and her brother Steven Petrow

But before she died, she made Steven, who is a bestselling author and a contributing columnist for The Washington Post, promise to write about how she chose to die, in order to raise awareness around MAID, a practice that many people don’t know about, or don’t understand, even though it was first legalized in Oregon, almost 30 years ago. 

So Steven did, publishing an essay about Julie and her decision in The New York Times a few months ago. It got a huge reception with over 600 comments on the NYT’s site. 

In this episode, Steven explains more:
 

• What the term medical aid in dying means and what it is exactly (it used to be called physician assisted suicide, but a physician is NOT present)

• Why he thinks only 9,000 people have availed themselves of the procedure since it first became legalized

• Why it’s mostly used by educated whites (for one thing, the cocktail of lethal drugs cost $700 to $900 and is NOT reimbursable)

This is simply a fascinating episode and Steven is a lovely guest, eloquent, respectful, and informed. It was such a pleasure to have him back on the show. As always, see below for links to his articles and books, including the NYT article, and a link to the first time he was on the show almost three years ago.  

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Don't miss Debbie's Behind The Scenes essay on Substack accompanying every episode of the podcast. 

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Mentioned in this episode or useful:

• Steven Petrow’s website

• I Promised My Sister I Would Write About How She Chose to Die by Steven Petrow (New York Times, Dec. 28, 2024)

• A cancer patient had decided how to die. Here's what I learned from her.  by Steven Petrow (Washington Post, Feb. 18, 2024)

• NPR podcast with Steven Petrow about MAID  (Feb. 22, 2024)

• He didn't want his sister to die. But her suffering helped him understand her choice (NPR, Feb. 25, 2024)

• How Aid in Dying Became Medical, Not Moral by Rachel E. Gross (New York Times, Oct. 24, 2023)

• At Peace: Choosing a Good Death After a Long Life by Samuel Harrington MD (Grand Central Life & Style; February 2018)

• States Where Medical Aid in Dying is Authorized

• [B]OLD AGE Podcast S3E24 - Steven Petrow on the Stupid Things He Won’t Do When He Gets Old

• Stupid Things I Won't Do When I Get Old: A Highly Judgmental, Unapologetically Honest Accounting of All the Things Our Elders Are Doing Wrong by Steven Petrow (Citadel; June 29, 2021)