Oregon's Assisted-Suicide Law: Reports & Safeguards

All information in official reports is provided by those who carry out assisted suicide.

Under Oregon's law, doctors participating in assisted suicide must file reports with the state. The doctor first helps the person commit suicide and, afterwards, reports that his or her actions complied with the law. Then, that information is used to formulate annual reports. But, from the time the law went into effect, Oregon officials in charge of formulating annual reports have conceded that "there's no way to know if additional deaths went unreported." (2)  A lead author of several official reports said, that information received from doctors "is a self-report, if you will, of the physician involved." (3) Furthermore, there are no penalties for non-reporting.

Complications or other problems associated with assisted suicide are almost impossible to determine.

When asked if there is a systematic way of finding out and recording complications, a state official said, "Not other than asking physicians." Yet, even if they were inclined to report complications, physicians may not be aware of them since "after they write the prescription, the physician may not keep track of the patient." (4)  According to the last official report, physicians who prescribed the drugs for assisted suicide were present at only 21.5% of reported deaths. Therefore, any information they provide might come from secondhand accounts or may be based on guesswork.(5) 

The state does not have any authority to verify if reports made by assisted-suicide providers are accurate or complete. It also does not have the authority or the funding to track complications or abuse.

A state official who was the lead author of most of Oregon's official reports said, "Not only do we not have the resources to do it, but we do not have any legal authority to insert ourselves." (6)

Records used in annual reports are destroyed.

According to one state official, "After we issue the annual report, we destroy the records." (7)  Therefore, there is no way to reexamine information if questions or concerns about an assisted-suicide death arise later.

SAFEGUARDS

 

The waiting period between requests for assisted suicide and provision of the lethal prescription was based on political strategy, not patient protection.

Oregon's law requires a fifteen-day waiting period between the first request and the provision of drugs for suicide. (8) Kathryn Tucker, legal counsel of Compassion & Choices (the organization spearheading attempts to pass Oregon-type laws in other states), (9) admitted that the waiting period was included to assure passage of the law. Referring to the waiting period, she explained that, after failing in several states, their strategy evolved:

"In my view, the Oregon measure, in some sense, became overly restrictive. It has a fifteen-day waiting period. And my own view of the federal constitutional claim is that a fifteen-day waiting period would be struck down immediately as unduly burdensome. As we've seen in the reproductive rights context, you can't have a waiting period of that kind of duration. But in the legislative forum, to pass, you need to have measures that convince people that it's suitably protective so you see a fifteen day waiting period." (10)

The required life expectancy of six months or less is both disingenuous and disregarded.

Oregon's law requires that patients be diagnosed with a life expectancy of six months or less before they are eligible for assisted suicide.(11)  However, a physician who has been involved in Oregon assisted-suicide deaths numbering in double digits said that such life expectancy predictions are inaccurate. Dr. Peter Rasmussen, an advisory board member for Compassion & Choices of Oregon, dismissed the need for an accurate prognosis of life expectancy, saying:

"Admittedly, we are inaccurate in prognosticating the time of death under those circumstances. We can easily be 100 percent off, but I do not think that is a problem. If we say a patient has six months to live and we are off by 100 percent and it is really three months or even twelve months, I do not think the patient is harmed in any way…." (12) 

A doctor can help a mentally ill or depressed patient commit suicide.

Under Oregon's assisted-suicide law, a depressed or mentally ill patient can receive assisted suicide if the doctor believes the patient's judgment is not impaired. (13) In the last year for which reports are available, physicians reported referring only 4% of assisted-suicide patients for psychological or psychiatric evaluation. (14) [ODHS, 9th Annual Report, 3/8/07]

Endnotes:

(1) For list of states and failed bills, see: "Failed Attempts to Legalize Euthanasia/Assisted Suicide in the United States."  

(2) Linda Praeger, "Details emerge on Oregon's first assisted suicides," American Medical News, Sept. 7, 1998.

(3) Dr. Melvin Kohn, Dec. 9, 2004, testifying before members of the British House of Lords.

In December 2004, members of the British House of Lords Committee traveled to Oregon seeking information regarding Oregon's assisted-suicide law for use in their deliberations about a similar proposal that was under consideration in Parliament. The public and press were not present during the closed-door hearings. However the House of Lords published the committee's proceedings in three lengthy volumes that included verbatim transcripts of questions and answers. Statements referred to in this fact sheet were made on Dec. 9 & 10, 2004 and were published in: House of Lords Select Committee on the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill, "Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill [HL]", Vol. II, Evidence, Apr. 4, 2005. (Hereafter referred to as HL.) Dr. Melvin Kohn, Dec. 9, 2004, HL, p. 263, question 598.

(4) Dr. Katrina Hedberg, Dec. 9, 2004, HL, p. 259, question 567.

(5) Oregon Dept. of Human Services, "Ninth Annual Report on Oregon's Death with Dignity Act," March 8, 2007, Table l.  
The annual report states that the presence of the attending physician in 63 out of 191 reported deaths is 29%, however the calculation is mathematically inaccurate. The correct calculation is 21.5%.

(6) Supra note 4, p. 266, question 615.

(7) Ibid., p. 262, question 592.

(8) ORS 127.840 §3.06 and ORS 127.850 §3.08. 

(9) For the evolution of Compassion & Choices from its beginning as a spin off of the Hemlock Society see: Assisted Suicide & Death with Dignity: Past, Present & Future, "From 'Hemlock' to Compassion & Choices."  

(10) Kathryn Tucker, speaking at Discovery Institute Conference, Seattle Pacific University, July 12, 1997. Transcript of videotaped presentation.

(11) ORS 127.800 §1.01 (12), ORS 127.815 §3.01 (a), and ORS 127.820 §3.02

(12) Dr. Peter Rasmussen, Dec. 10, 2004, HL, p. 312, question 842.

(13) ORS 127.825 §3.03.

(14) Supra note 5.

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