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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 1994)
EDITORIAL Assisted suicide ripe for abuse Giving doctors the legal right to prescribe life-ending drugs to terminally ill patients invites abuse and leaves the door open for lethal mistakes. Measure 16. Oregon's "Death with Dignity Act," would allow physicians to dispense fatal doses of barbiturates to patients who meet a series of flawed requirements. Because the proposal lacks adequate safeguards, it should be defeated. Under the measure's guidelines, someone older than 18 who is diagnosed with less than six months to live will be ablo to request a lethal proscription of drugs from the attending physician. The request must be made twice, once in writing and once orally. When the initial suicide request is made, the doctor may require the patient to undergo a psychological eval uation if that person exhibits depression or appears men tally unbalanced. The psychological evaluation is not mandatory; rather, it is discretionary. Likewise, the doc tor Is not required to notify the patient's family of suici dal intentions. After a 15-day waiting period and a second physi cian's ooiniou on the diagnosis, the prescription would be filled. The patient must take tho pills on his or hor own. Lethal injection is not permitted under tho mea sure. Measure 16 attempts to cover all the bases so accidents or abuses don't occur. Unfortunately, tho authors of the measure overlook several important considerations. When doctors diagnose an illness and then give a per son less than six months to live, that diagnosis is noth ing more than an educated guess. No one. including doc tors. really knows how long a person will live. Nontangible factors, such as a person's will to live, don't fit into such an equation. A misdiagnosis could result in a premature and unnecessary death. Doctors are not mental health professionals and can not with any certainty or accuracy properly diagnose a patient's mental state. People despondent over the nows of their impending death may make fil ill-conceived or premature decision without the benefit of rational thought. With only a medical doctor's opinion, patients in this condition could slip through the cracks. Terminally ill patients who are poor or low-income may make the decision to die simply to avoid burdening their families with the expense ot long-term hospital or hospice care. This aspect becomes more chilling if a patient lives longer than tho minimum six-month requirement. Worst of all, the measure makes no provision for over sight. so the potential for abuse through coercion from outside source's becomes a probability. There is no requirement for reporting assisted suicides to a regula tory board, and therefore, no avenue to investigate crim inal behavior on the part of the participants. Because there is no imperative for tho doctor to notify family members, manipulation of tho patient to take his or hor life could go unnoticed. Suicide is an intensely personal decision, one in which the state has no business participating. Vote noon Measure 16. Oregon Daily po 90s snt fuctw o«gon 97403 th« Om/jon Clfrty f mmtkl % pubfeshed ti&fy lAxtday through * r«day duf^ng the echoed v«af and T ueeday a^d Thursday dufiog th© tummor by !h© Ofay on Oa«iy fmerakJ f*ub**f>ing Co . 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Rot*** IWv-ot l* Safocoa Paul Van Sc*V> K»m W»u. Oan*ri W«u. Brian Womack Qanarai Manager Judy RkkH Ady•ntiing Director Mart Watte* Production Manager Md>#» Ron Advarltiing: Ma co Ching. Tony Eo». Lnn Hatha, N»cole Nartmart, J*»#my Mavon M*-n.aai Mrfien*. Sara* Mrtcnal. Tom Mtfatttaaci, Kataay W «*»»;» Qaaaffted: Marty Min chant. Manager Jo* SaAon Jod Waa Dtitri button: John long, f <*anc Rakucjs. Magna Zaupn* Bualnaaa; Kathy Carbon*. Siomutv Judy Connoty Production: Danila McCobb. Prodbcfon Coordinator $h*wr« Abale. G**g Daimond, T»* GauAney. Brad Joi*. Janrhta# fioiarxl hiaft Thangvjrt. Clayton Y«e Wawaroom -->46-5511 CHaplay Advardaing_ >46-3712 Bu»in#i* Offtca-->46-6312 Claaatfiad Advartiamg MMM3 r J'/leanw)u]e, back at the Disney drawing .board £AIVIRoH*\£*JT W£M£ fio't r*onf4nr cV boa in. *ah oA*orooc sr* SO TV/ftU R/OfS D£Ma*JSr#Ar?*JO> rmafL/rvo* A*rv*At feajrjr&stj' ■Boa r or *ooX o4T/y( combos' 4M£4*CA*J JUSr/t£ TH£M£ P4*K ■Ao*t r O*oor ovrftof w*aiOo<*j or -l4ajc£ trot Conorooan* W^k> BO 7URHL tyO£S CO*)M£MO*4T/A/G mr RfGw n> 4 '/*/>?' tx*4l/ D€MOCRAC V 7WM£ f*** ■ 0*60 r rouoc cut*no AonoooG * ff II go£s ro unw/vcmv 6>»*f x» uf fjtun i fcjcxii o afnjnr fur *»"»*»<«, **fsj jv*f> ( /\HDKXJWOOlOAjr^ & it£vf nu<A\nfLO\jj j? r j ■ OPINION We could all learn from arannv Granny taught it on a Sun day morning lost Febru ary. Someone was taking a shower when granny knocked on the bathroom door. Because she couldn't got in, she decided to use tho hall oarpot instead. Of course, granny didn't know she did anything wrong. I got up moments after she did this and her lined face smiled at me ami said, "Good mornin'” as if it were just like any other predawn hour in Murfreesboro, Arkansas (where she thinks she is anyway). Granny has Alzheimer's. As her body continues to age, her mind becomes more like a child's A few nights before that Sun day. she taught it again. She lift ed a doll she was holding so I could see its transfixed face Then, with a smile that any proud mother would have, she said. "Now ain't that the sweet est thing vuh ever did see?" Then she showed me its frozen fingers and explained how she had wor ried earlier that there might be something wrong with the "baby" because its fingers were awfully stiff. But she said they were fine now. All I could do was nod cor dially. She looked right into the (Minted-on eyes and said, "Sweet, sweet, sweet." The spring before that she taught it once again Mom was busy cleaning house when she realized she hadn't seen granny in 15 minutes or so After st our mg the house for her, mom couldn't find her in our three 1**1 room ranch Mom frantically raced up the street asking neigh bors if they had seen a 76-year old lady with a southern accent, hut to no avail. She ran home and called the police to report a missing person. Mom hurried toward the oth er side of our house and found the home she was looking for since ah officer's car was parked in front of it. (The lady of that house had called to report a found person.) When mom went into the neighbor's modest two level, granny was sitting on tho Brian Womack couch liko she hack in Arkansas “vis'lin." Mom started crying and gave granny a relieved hug. Granny grinned a little and pat ted her on the back as if to con sole her daughter-in-law. After gaining her composure, mom told granny it was time to go. Granny got up and thanked the still-bewildered neighbors for such an enjoyable time. After that hallway episode, I started thinking about some thing mom said 1 taught her when 1 was a two-year-old from hell 1 would fill the toilet with a roll of toilet paper. I would run to the kitchen the moment the phone rang and throw every thing 1 could from the cabinets onto the floor She said 1 taught her the lessons of giving and patient e. and that the value of a person lies simply in he or she being just that — a person. Granny teaches us that every day While we may laugh at some of the tilings she does (it's better than crying), we're learn ing to be giving instead of self ish She teaches us that the true value of a person is not always what he or she can give to you, but what you tan give to them. I m glad she made sure we learned this That's why I'm against Ballot Measure Hi. This measure would legalize the practice of doctors helping patients kill themselves. 1 he value of life would tie fur ther cheapened. My granny could he a prime candidate. What value is tier life' I think that s already been shown. We tan no longer simply val ue someone for simply being someone. Other problems riddle this measure. Measure Hi calls for death by drugs if the patient is diagnosed to die within six months. The problem is that doctors are human and make mistakes. In fact. The Oregonian reported that 10 to 15 percent of all death diagnoses were wrong. If there is a misdiagnosis, and the person goes through with the suicide, the consequence isn't an extra night in the hospi tal to recover, its an eternity six feet underground. Not exactly something to be played with. Measure 16 would also play upon the emotional instabilities of people who have been diag nosed with terminal illnesses When someone has just been told that they're going to die in a mat ter of months, their view of life cun be extremely tainted — namely they think it’s better just to end it all. Measure 16 does nothing but exploit these feelings. I'd hate to be the one who decides that someone should die and then find out I was wrong. Doctors shouldn't be put in that position. This measure could also put a dollar value on life. Cost-cut ting is all the rage right now If a person is diagnosed with a dis ease that could cost more than someone thinks is appropriate, suicide could look like the best option. That is wrong. Years from now, we could tie using death to get rid of anyone we deem too expensive to keep alive. If you think I’m just using scare tactics, you're right. This measure is scary. We're talking about killing people. We're play ing with fire. People are people. Their value lies in that alone. If you think someone is better off dead, you're forgetting that you're not God. No one should have the power to decide when someone should go. That will only cheap en life. I.ife is never cheap. In fact, at those times when wo think it is. that's when it can teach us the most even if we have to.... Brian Womack is a columnist for thr Emerald
