Oregon assisted suicide rate stays low

Jean Passel is trying to qualify for a prescription to take her own life

February 24, 2000
Web posted at: 8:05 a.m. EST (1305 GMT)

From Correspondent Don Knapp

PORTLAND, Oregon (CNN) -- Two studies on the effects of Oregon's assisted suicide law show that few of its citizens actually use it, say the authors.

The state is the only one in the United States that has legally assisted suicide. Under Oregon's 2-year-old law, adult residents with a diagnosis of terminal illness from two doctors may ask for a lethal dose of drugs.

In 1998, 16 residents took the lethal dose. Last year the figure rose to 27.

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CNN's Don Knapp reports that few doctors have helped patients take their own lives under a new law. Windows Media 28K 80K

Of those 27, most were cancer patients, 16 were men and the average age of the patients was 71.

The study conducted by the state and published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed there were no apparent abuses.

"There were certainly concerns that this would then be forced upon people who were poor, uneducated, and we have not found that to be the case," said Dr. Katrina Hedberg, of the Oregon Health Division.

In a separate survey, researchers polled more than 2,600 Oregon doctors and found only a small percentage granted requests for lethal prescriptions.

Of 165 requests made by patients, 29 were granted and 17 resulted in a patient's death. Doctors were often able to offer alternatives to suicide.

Dr. Ganzini says intervention can cause the patient to change his mind

"Things like symptom control, pain control, mental health consultation, a variety of intervention that causes the patient to change his mind," said Dr. Linda Ganzini, of the Oregon Health Sciences University.

Barbara Houch, 71, was bedridden with ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease. With her family present, she took a lethal dose of barbiturates.

Her son Randy mixed it with chocolate pudding. "She ate the pudding and she was so happy," he said.

"She just rested for a while and talked with us a little bit and got real sleepy.

"The last thing she said to me was, 'You know, Randy, there's nothing good on TV tonight, anyway.'"

Jean Passel needs pure oxygen 24 hours a day in order to breathe. Now, while she is able, she is trying to qualify for a prescription to take her own life.

That, she says, would improve her life by easing the anxiety over how it might end - in suffocation.

"You bet I fear it," she said. "That's the thing that would make my life almost unbearable."

Passel says she may eventually change her mind about suicide ... but, for now, she wants that option.

House tries to limit Oregon's assisted suicide law
October 27, 1999
Woman argued with husband before Kevorkian-assisted suicide
August 17, 1996

Doctor-Assisted Suicide: a guide to WEB Sites and the literature
Euthanasia.com
US Supreme Court; Assisted Suicide
The dying game: physician-assisted suicide in Oregon
Oregon OnLine - State of Oregon

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