Chapter 5.B (or 3.B) Physician Aid in Dying

Physician Aid in Dying

Note 2

Through December 31, 2008, physicians had written 629 prescriptions under Oregon's Death with Dignity Act.  Of the 629 patients, 401 died after ingesting the prescribed medication (64%), a dozen were still alive, and the rest died of their illnesses.  Slightly less than one-fifth of one percent of deaths in Oregon now result from assisted suicide.  More than 80 percent of the 401 had cancer, and nearly 90 percent were enrolled in hospice care.  For more information about the patients, click here.

You can find a copy of the actual reports by the Oregon Health Division at 2008 Summary of Oregon's Death with Dignity Act, Summary of Oregon's Death with Dignity Act - 2007, Summary of Oregon's Death with Dignity Act--2006, Eighth Annual Report on Oregon's Death with Dignity Act, Seventh Annual Report on Oregon's Death with Dignity Act, Sixth Annual Report on Oregon's Death with Dignity Act, Fifth Annual Report on Oregon's Death with Dignity Act, Fourth Annual Report on Oregon's Death with Dignity Act, Oregon's Death with Dignity Act: Three years of legalized physician-assisted suicide, Oregon's Death with Dignity Act: The Second Year's Experience, and Oregon's Death with Dignity Act: The First Year's Experience.

For commentary on the implementation of the Oregon statute, see an article by Kathryn Tucker and a co-authored piece by Herbert Hendin and Kathleen Foley in the June 2008 issue of the Michigan Law Review.

Note 10

For commentary on Abigail Alliance, see the November-December 2006  issue of the Hastings Center Report for articles by Rebecca Dresser and John Robertson and the January 10, 2007 issue of JAMA for an article by Peter Jacobson and Wendy Parmet.

Note 15

In the fifth paragraph of the note, second line, it should say that "physicians have become more reluctant to employ those practices."

Note 17

Washington became the second state to permit physician aid in dying in November 2008.  A voter initiative--the Washington Death with Dignity Act--that was patterned on the Oregon Death with Dignity Act passed with 58 percent support.  For the text of the act, click here.  For commentary, see Robert Steinbrook, "Physician-Assisted Death--From Oregon to Washington State," 359 New Eng. J. Med. 2513 (2008).

In December 2008, a Montana district court judge recognized a right to physician aid in dying under the Montana state constitution's right to privacy together with state's right to dignity.  The court acknowledged the state's interest in protecting vulnerable Montanans from abuse, but held that the state could advance that interest by adopting regulations like the ones in Oregon and Washington.  For the court's opinion, click here.  For more information, click here.

Note 18

For commentary on the Supreme Court's decisions in Glucksberg and Quill, see a June 2008 symposium in the Michigan Law Review, Glucksberg and Quill at Ten

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