This Letter to the Editor notes that rather than being a rallying cry for allowing suicide & physician-assisted suicide in medically-ill elderly patients, Eddy’s essay & his mother’s death serve as the warning bell for the thorough evaluation for the presence of depression, & subsequently impaired judgement, in the nonterminal, medically-ill patient who refuses basic nutrition & hydration. Antidepressants & other treatment programs are discussed. A reply by Eddy is provided.