A Boston Globe journalist is under fire after signing a legal brief that helped a retired nurse die by assisted suicide before writing about the heartbreaking experience.
Lynda Bluestein, 76, traveled from Connecticut to Vermont earlier this month to end her life by taking prescription lethal drugs — a journey chronicled by the Globe’s Kevin Cullen.
It has since emerged that Cullen not only witnessed the story, but also signed a form showing that Bluestein was in a lucid state of mind when he decided to die.
There is no evidence that Cullen broke the law, but critics are now questioning the ethics of his decision.
The Globe’s executive editor, Nancy Barnes, added a note to the story published Sunday on the newspaper’s front page saying that Cullen’s actions had violated the Globe’s standards and that Cullen regrets he signed the form for Bluestein.
Lynda Bluestein, 76, traveled from Connecticut to Vermont earlier this month to end her life by taking prescription lethal drugs
Boston Globe journalist Kevin Cullen signed a form showing that Bluestein was clear-headed
The Globe’s editor-in-chief Nancy Barnes added a note to the story published in the newspaper on Sunday
The editor’s notepartly read: ‘It is a violation of Globe standards for a reporter to insert himself into a story he is reporting. The fact that it was primarily intended as a gesture of goodwill and courtesy does not alter the fact that it was off-limits.’
“After reviewing these details, we have concluded that this error did not significantly impact the outcome of this story – Bluestein died on January 4 and she would likely have found another signer in the months prior.
“For that reason, we have chosen to publish this powerful story, which includes exceptional photojournalism, while also sharing these details with complete transparency.”
The online story contains a link to the editor’s note, but not the note itself. DailyMail.com has contacted the Boston Globe for comment.
Boston Herald columnist Rick Sobey claims Cullen committed journalism’s “mortal sin” by getting involved in a story, as journalists must remain independent.
John Watson, a professor of journalism ethics at American University, told Sobey that he finds the situation troubling because the reporter “played a vital role in the happening of this story.”
“They disqualified themselves from telling the story, and they should have walked away when they realized the reporter had committed a mortal sin,” the ethics professor said.
Watson also criticized the Globe for publishing the article after admitting the ethics violation.
Bluestein’s last words were, “I’m so glad I don’t have to do this (suffer) anymore,” her husband, Paul, wrote in an email to the Compassion & Choices group
Bluestein was diagnosed with cancer in March 2021. At the time, she was given six months to three years to live.
Herald columnist Sobey also noted that Cullen previously found himself in hot water after being accused of exaggerating his reporting on the Boston Marathon bombings.
Cullen was suspended from the Globe for three months in 2018 after it emerged that he had fabricated details of the 2013 bombings in radio interviews and other public appearances.
As DailyMail.com previously reported, Vermont is the first state in the country to change its laws so that non-residents can use the law to die there.
There are ten states that allow medically assisted suicide. Critics of such laws say states without residency requirements risk becoming tourist destinations for assisted suicide.
Vermont’s law, in effect since 2013, allows doctors to prescribe lethal drugs to people with an incurable disease that is expected to kill them within six months.
Last May, Vermont became the first state in the country to change its medically assisted suicide law so that terminally ill people from out of state could use it to end their lives.
Bluestein had sued Vermont in federal court in 2022, claiming the residency requirement violated the Constitution’s Commerce, Equal Protection and Privileges and Immunities clauses.
Supporters say the law has strict safeguards, including a requirement that those who want to use it be able to make their health care decision and communicate it to a doctor.
Patients must make two requests verbally to the doctor within a certain period of time and then submit a written request, signed in the presence of two or more witnesses who are not interested parties.
The witnesses must sign and confirm that the patients appeared to understand the nature of the document and were free from coercion or undue influence at the time.
Others express moral opposition to assisted suicide, saying there are no safeguards to protect vulnerable patients from coercion.
Bluestein, a lifelong activist who advocated for similar legislation in Connecticut and New York, which did not happen, wanted to ensure she did not die like her mother, in a hospital bed after a long illness.
Last year she said she wanted to die surrounded by her husband, children, grandchildren, wonderful neighbors, friends and dog.
“I wanted to have a death that was meaningful, but that didn’t last forever… before I died,” she insisted.
“I want to live the way I’ve always lived, and I want my death to be consistent with the way I always wanted my life to be,” Bluestein said.
Her last words were, “I’m so glad I don’t have to do this (suffer) anymore,” her husband, Paul, wrote in an email to the Compassion & Choices group.