Oregon task force issues PAS guide
Oregon task force issues PAS guide
The Task Force to Improve the Care of Terminally Ill Oregonians, a broadly representative group formed in 1994 in response to passage of Ballot Measure 16, recently issued its long-awaited "Guidebook for Healthcare Providers." This booklet advises providers on how to work with terminally ill patients in a context where physician-assisted suicide is now legal, but it is not a "how-to manual for assisted suicide," reports Oregon Hospice Association (OHA) executive director Ann Jackson, who sits on the Task Force.
The 91-page booklet emphasizes the need for open, thorough, and nonjudgmental communication among doctors, patients, families, and other caregivers, and for exploring thoroughly why the patient is requesting assisted suicide. OHA's Board of Directors has reviewed the document and endorses it as a major contribution to end-of-life care in Oregon, Jackson says.
At a March press conference to announce the guidebook's release, Jackson was asked whether the state's hospices would turn away patients interested in obtaining an assisted suicide, given their opposition to Measure 16. "Absolutely not!" she responded, explaining that the state's hospices recommend referring any patient who requests assisted suicide to a hospice, so that any fears or needs relative to the terminal illness might be addressed.
State will fund assisted suicideMeanwhile, the Oregon Health Services Commission voted in late February to fund assisted suicide under the Oregon Health Plan, the state's system of health care rationing. PAS appears at line 263 of the plan's prioritized list of covered health services, along with hospice and comfort care for the terminally ill. This decision was to go into effect in late April, subject to federal scrutiny, because a hastily passed federal law forbids using matching federal funds for assisted suicide.
It still is not known how widely Measure 16 is being utilized, given the understandable privacy concerns. The Oregonian newspaper recently reported that at least 10 state residents had asked for a lethal prescription, five of them died before the mandatory 15-day waiting period expired, and none availed themselves of the lethal prescription. Another survey cited by Jackson determined that only 2 of 400 patients who asked for assisted suicide actually carried it out. This suggests that just having the lethal prescription on hand can give patients peace of mind, knowing that they have a way out should their suffering become unbearable.
To order "The Oregon Death with Dignity Act: A Guidebook for Healthcare Providers," send $15 to the Oregon Health Sciences University Center for Ethics in Health Care, L101, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd., Portland, OR 97201.
Subscribe Now for Access
You have reached your article limit for the month. We hope you found our articles both enjoyable and insightful. For information on new subscriptions, product trials, alternative billing arrangements or group and site discounts please call 800-688-2421. We look forward to having you as a long-term member of the Relias Media community.