Last week, I received a call from a woman who wanted to know if I could give her the name of a doctor who practiced good end-of-life care medicine and who did not practice assisted suicide. She and her 75-year old husband had recently moved within the Portland , Oregon metro area, and they wanted to be under the care of a doctor closer to their new home. This is not an uncommon request in Oregon , the only state that has legalized assisted suicide. I suggested a doctor's name to her whom I felt she and her husband could trust. I have received previous calls from those who are concerned regarding the ethics of their doctor, and are concerned that their doctor may be a “death” doctor. This shows the great importance of trust in the patient-doctor relationship; and the great harm caused by assisted suicide.
My personal experience illustrates this:
Shannon and I had been married 18 years and had 6 children. For three years she had been suffering from advancing malignant lymphoma. It had relentlessly spread from her lymph nodes to her brain, spinal cord and bones. She had received extensive chemotherapy and radiation treatments. She required considerable pain medication, antidepressants and other supportive measures. In late May, 1982, we met again with her doctor to review what more could be done. It was obvious that there was no further treatment that would halt the cancer's progressive nature. As we were about to leave his office, her doctor said, “Well, I could write a prescription for an ‘extra large' amount of pain medication for you. He did not say it was for her to hasten her death, but she and I both felt his intended message. We knew that was the intent of his words. Her pain and symptoms were being controlled, and she declined the prescription. As I helped her to our car, she said, “Ken, he wants me to kill myself.” She and I were devastated. How could her physician subtly suggest to her that she take her own life with lethal drug overdose? We had felt much discouragement during the prior three years, but not the deep despair that we felt at that time when her physician, her trusted physician, subtly suggest that suicide should be considered. His subtle message to her was, “Your life is no longer of value, you are better off dead.” Six days later she died peacefully, naturally, with dignity and at ease in her bed, without the suggested lethal drug overdose. Physician-assisted suicide does destroy trust between patient and physician.
In 1994, Oregon citizens voted 51% to 49% to legalize assisted suicide in the state. From 1998 to 2007 there have been 341 assisted suicide deaths reported by the Oregon Health Department. Last year there were 49 assisted suicide deaths. Compassion & Choices (former Hemlock Society) which controls three-fourths of Oregon's assisted suicides, reported that by mid-September this year they have had 75% more assisted suicide deaths than in the same period last year. This is an explosive increase in their assisted suicides; and they are campaigning for assisted suicide legalization in Washington state.
Washington citizens should be very concerned about dangerous assisted suicide coming to their state. I urge you to vote No on I-1000, and to help educate others regarding the harm of I-1000.
See: www.noassistedsuicide.com for more information.
Other doctors and I have developed an organization and website www.pccef.org to promote ethical end-of-life care. A recent addition to that site is to "Take the Pledge" to do no harm and stand against physician assisted suicide. The Pledge states:
- I will treat the sick according to my best ability and judgment, always striving to do no harm. Whenever I care for a terminally-ill patient, I will provide optimal comfort care until natural death.
- I will also support my patients' wishes not to prolong the dying process with futile treatment. I will never give a deadly drug to anyone even if asked, nor will I suggest suicide.
- I will always affirm and guard these ethical principles with integrity, recognizing that every human life is inherently valuable.
These are ethical principles that are vital in the trust between patient and doctor. I encourage readers to share this message.
