Oregon sets record for assisted suicides in 2007

WASHINGTON — Oregon recorded more deaths by physician-assisted suicide in 2007 than in any year in the decade since it was legalized. The Oregon Department of Human Services recently reported 49 people committed suicide last year using lethal doses of drugs prescribed by doctors. The previous high was 46 in 2006. Oregon, the only state to legalize assisted suicide, has recorded 341 such deaths since its Death with Dignity Act took effect in late 1997.

None who committed suicide last year in Oregon with the assistance of a doctor were referred to a psychologist or psychiatrist before receiving a lethal prescription, a fact criticized by opponents of the practice. Forty-three of the 49 who utilized assisted suicide were enrolled in hospice care. An element "of hospice care is supposed to include suicide prevention when a patient expresses a desire to commit suicide," wrote bioethics specialist Wesley Smith at www.bioethics.com. "Wanna bet that didn’t happen in these cases? How do we know? There were zero referrals of suicidal patients to mental health professionals."

Upon the March 18 release of the report, the Physicians for Compassionate Care Education Foundation reiterated its opposition to assisted suicide, saying it: "Undermines trust in the patient-physician relationship, changes the societal role of physicians from healer to executioner and endangers the value that society places on life, specifically for those who are most vulnerable."