Woman loses assisted suicide case

[Yojimbo]

I am a supporter of the idea of death with dignity, and that a person of reasonably sound mind should have the ability to choose for themselves. Nevertheless, I realize that suicide is illegal in the USA. Hospice or terminally ill patients are often given a bottle of medication (like oral dose or sublingual morphine) and they are told by the doctor or pharmacist that they should take only the recommended dose for pain relief. They are also told that they should not exceed the recommended dose as it may result in death. They are then given the bottle and told to follow the directions and expected to self regulate their doses. I have been told unofficially that this is done as a means to give the patient a painless method by which to end their life in a dignified fashion at the time of their choosing, should they choose to follow this path. Certainly it is not officially done for this, as these meds are prescribed only for pain relief. The laws governing doctor assisted suicide as they are here in the United States, a doctor cannot officially sanction suicide, but apparently doctors have been either administering or making available to terminal cases high doses of morphine for this specific purpose for many years. I am certain that this is done purely out of mercy, but one way or another the end result is the same as if you explicitly instructed someone on how to kill themselves, or took a more active role in their suicide.

[EvilNed]

No expert here, but doesn't O'Ding on painkillers first send you into an hour long journey of pain as the organs react to them?

[Yojimbo]

I am no expert myself, and having never had the opportunity to down a significant dose of Morphine, I really do not know if your body would experience pain. But I was once administered Demerol intervenously after surgery - from what I have heard it is very similar to Morphine in effect, but I would have to defer to the resident medical techs and nurses on our boards to confirm - and I must say that I really felt no pain at all, and actually felt extremely high from it. I would hope that these folks at the last moment of their lives feel no pain at all, but perhaps that it just wishful thinking. Can one of our members with medical training hone in on this? Some of us -I don't wish this on anyone, but I mention it just to be pragmatic - might have to make this decision someday and a little information on this could be very useful.

[EvilNed]

Now that I think about it, I don't think morphine would hustle your organs too much, considering it'd probably put you into a coma pretty quick. But other pills, the stuff that teenagers usually OD on, will cause internal damage. Alot of pills do, infact, if you take too much of them. But I can see morphine working.

[Chic Freak]

I'm pretty sure that the traditional vodka + aspirin method is meant to be one of the worst in terms of long and painful deaths. Voluntary suicide should be available on the NHS I think, so that people can go as quickly and painlessly with as much dignity as possible. And without meaning to sound harsh, if a mentally competent adult has made an informed decision to end their life without any outside coercion whatsoever, etc, then the quicker they can be put to rest, the quicker the resources that they would have been using can be transferred to someone who actually wants them. I'm just saying.

[Mike70]

Oregon has the "death with dignity act" and it works like this: Under the law, a capable adult Oregon resident who has been diagnosed by a physician with a terminal illness that will kill them within six months may request in writing, from his or her physician, a prescription for a lethal dose of medication for the purpose of ending the patient's life. Use of the law is voluntary and the patient must initiate the request. Any physician, pharmacist or healthcare provider opposed on moral grounds does not have to participate. The request must be confirmed by two witnesses, one of whom cannot be related to the patient, be entitled to any portion of the patient's estate, be the patient's physician, or be employed by a health care facility caring for the patient. After the request is made, another physician must examine the patient's medical records and confirm the diagnosis. The patient must be determined to not suffer from a mental condition impairing judgment. If the request is authorized, the patient must wait at least fifteen days and make a second oral request before the prescription may be written. The patient has a right to rescind the request at any time. Should either physician have concerns about the patient’s ability to make an informed decision, or feel the patient’s request may be motivated by depression or coercion, the patient must be referred for a psychological evaluation. The law protects doctors from liability for providing a lethal prescription for a terminally ill, competent adult in compliance with the statute restrictions. Participation by physicians, pharmacists, and health care providers is voluntary. The law also specifies a patient's decision to end his or her life shall not "have an effect upon a life, health, or accident insurance or annuity policy." the legion of doom (aka the fu*kwits in the bush admin) attempted to block this law when they came into power but a supreme court decision came down on the side of oregon.

[Yojimbo]

Mike, I am surprised but pleased that there is a state that has the presence of mind to be this progressive. On the flipside, it doesn't surprise me at all that evangelicals and the George W robots would have been against this. Suddenly, though, I am reminded of that government-funded "Quietus" suicide kit from "Children of Men"