International Task Force - Oregon's Statistics

Note: Information in the chart below is from official reports released annually by the Oregon Department of Human Services. However, in closed-door hearings, the same individuals who implement Oregon's law, compile annual reports about it or prescribe the lethal drugs admitted that the law's safeguards are not protective and its monitoring is close to non-existent. For this information, see "The Oregon Experience."

CATEGORIES	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	TOTAL
Number of reported assisted suicide deaths:	16	27	27	21	38	42	37	38	246
Number of reported lethal prescriptions written:	24	33	39	44	58	68	60	64	390
Number of reporting doctors who wrote lethal prescriptions:	14	22	22	33	33	42	40	39	N/A*
1st doctor asked wrote prescription:	8	8	11	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	?
Prescribing doctor present when lethal drugs taken by patient:						34 '98-'03	6	8	total from 8th report: 48
Median duration (weeks) of patient-doctor relationship before lethal prescription provided:	11	22	8	14	11	10	12	8	12
Range of duration (weeks) of patient-doctor relationship before lethal prescription provided:	2-540	2-816	1-851	0-500	0-379	0-405	0-1065	0-678	0-1065
Patients' reasons for requesting assisted suicide:
Fear of being a burden	2	7	17	4	14	16	14	16	90
Fear of losing autonomy	12	21	25	16	32	39	32	30	207
Fear of losing control of bodily functions	9	16	21	9	18	24	24	17	138
Inadequate pain control or concern about	2	7	8	1	10	9	8	9	54
Fear of decreasing ability to do enjoyable activities	11	22	21	13	32	39	34	34	206
Financial implications	0	0	1	1	1	1	2	1	7
Fear of loss of dignity	--	--	--	--	--	31	29	34	94
Patients referred for psychiatric evaluations:	5	10	5	3	5	2	2	2	34
Lethal drugs delivered to patient by:
Physician	9	11	7	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	?
Pharmacist	5	13	15	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	?
Other	2	1	1	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	?
Lethal drugs used:
Secobarbital	NR	NR	67**	16	2	4	12	4	105
Pentobarbital	NR	NR	2**	5	34	37	25	34	137
Tuinal	NR	NR	--	--	2	1	--	--	3
Other	NR	NR	1**	--	--	--	--	0	4
Complications after lethal drugs were ingested:
Regurgitation	0	0	1	1	2	3	3	2	12
Reported as "unknown"	1	1	2	--	--	--	--	1	5
Patient awakened; did not die from lethal dose.	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	1	1
Minutes between lethal drug ingestion and death:
Median number of minutes	22	30	30	25	20	20	25	26	25
Range	10min- 12hrs	4min- 26hrs	5min- 75min	5min- 37hrs	5min- 14hrs	5min- 48hrs	5min- 31hrs	5min- 9.5hrs	4min- 48hrs
Reported as unknown	1	2	8	1	2	1	3	2	18
Reported cases of non-compliance with law:	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	4	8
Actual cases of non-compliance with law:***	Not Known	Not Known	Not Known	Not Known	Not Known	Not Known	Not Known	Not Known	Not Known
Since the Oregon Health Department (OHD) reports do not identify the lethally prescribing doctors, there is no way to determine the total number for the 7-year span. The same doctor could have written multiple lethal prescriptions for multiple patients. This is a composite figure for the first 3 years as revealed in the Fourth Annual Report. Earlier reports did not include this data. **The OHD has acknowledged that it has no way of knowing if data provided by prescribing physicians is accurate or complete. NR - Not reported NA - Not available
Sources: Oregon Death with Dignity Act: The First Year's Experience, OHD, 2/18/99. "A Year of Dignified Death," CD Summary, OHD, 3/16/99. Oregon Death with Dignity Act: The Second Year's Experience, OHD, 2/23/00. Oregon Death with Dignity Act: Three Years of Legalized Physician-Assisted Suicide, OHD, 2/21/01. Fourth Annual Report on Oregon's Death with Dignity Act, ODHS, 2/6/02. Fifth Annual Report on Oregon's Death with Dignity Act, ODHS, 3/5/03. Sixth Annual Report on Oregon's Death with Dignity Act, ODHS, 3/10/04. Seventh Annual Report on Oregon's Death with Dignity Act, ODHS, 3/10/05 Eighth Annual Report on Oregon's Death with Dignity Act, ODHS, 3/9/06