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If you’re a proponent for ending your life in the event of a terminal illness, the Breaking Bad state has some good news.

A New Mexico judge said terminally ill, mentally competent patients can choose to have a doctor end their life, according to CNN. Stemming from a lawsuit filed on behalf of a terminally ill cancer patient by the ACLU and Compassion & Choices, the judge had to consider if doctors could precribe a fatal dose of drugs if a patient wanted it. Here's an excerpt of Second Judicial District Judge Nan Nash's response:

This Court cannot envision a right more fundamental, more private or more integral to the liberty, safety and happiness of a New Mexican than the right of a competent, terminally ill patient to choose aid in dying. If decisions made in the shadow of one's imminent death regarding how they and their loved ones will face that death are not fundamental and at the core of these constitutional guarantees, than what decisions are?

When I tell people that I worked in the funeral industry, I’m always asked if it’s as sketchy as they think. Then they’ll tell me about an article they read where a consumer was ripped off, or a news blurb they watched about a body being buried in the wrong grave. It’s almost always anecdotal, but the stories pile up.

Although there were major funeral industry issues in the past, since 1984 the Federal Trade Commission has regulated it to curb many horrible practices.  But since employees performing their job properly isn’t interesting, the public only sees the negative scandalous stuff. Thus, people believe the funeral industry, which is already mysterious to begin with, is full of scandal.

The popular financial site LearnVest has jumped on the Death Over Dinner train with this recent article "Death Dinners: Why Dying Is a Supper Topic Du Jour":

For many people these days, one effective way to share their very personal end-of-life decisions and desires with friends and family is to host “death dinners.” The hope is that gathering over a meal will make discussing the topic of dying a little more palatable, while also sparing loved ones from fighting over financial and medical issues down the road.

What’s the difference between saying you love the troops and actually loving them? How about making sure their families receive money owed to them when they die.

We do our best to prepare for natural disasters, but we rarely prepare for the natural disaster awaiting us all: Death. So writes Dr. Ira Byock in his compelling and informative story “Caring Well for One Another Through the End of Life,” which appears in USA Today’s “End of Life Care” supplement.

Our friend Kathy Kastner of BestEndings.com has put together a very down-to-earth and helpful video series dealing with the great beyond. Here’s one of the clips:

Death + Dinner = Delicious. Bloomberg Media recently highlighted the “death dinners,” which recently collaborated with Everplans, in an effort to get people to discuss end-of-life plans while they’re healthy...and hungry.