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
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■ 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