Statistics of Oregon patients add dimension to end-of-life debate

By Adam Wilson | The Olympian • Published September 07, 2008

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Those who choose to use legal, lethal drugs to end their lives typically are cancer patients who are white, educated and have private insurance.

That's the evidence from Oregon, the only state to allow physician-assisted suicide and the model for this year's Initiative 1000 on the Washington state ballot Nov. 4.

If voters approve the initiative, terminally ill patients could get prescriptions for lethal doses of medications. While I-1000 includes a number of safeguards, such as requiring two doctors to agree the patient has six months or less to live, opponents say the system is open to abuse.

The poor, the mentally ill, the disabled and minorities could be pushed into assisted suicide because they don't have access to proper health care, the Coalition Against Assisted Suicide says.

Oregon statistics tell a different story. The state has tracked who uses the state's Death with Dignity Act, and why, since it took effect 10 years ago.

Of the 341 people who have ended their lives under the Oregon law, 97 percent are white, 77 percent are between the ages of 55 and 84, more than 63 percent have at least some college education, and 63 percent have private insurance, not Medicaid or Medicare.

Most of the people — 82 percent — were suffering from cancer.

Foes of the law point out Oregon does not require people to receive counseling before opting for death.

"Legalizing assisted suicide just puts everybody who's depressed in a position to actually proceed with assisted suicide," Tacoma Dr. Patricia O'Halloran, a critic of I-1000, said.

Peg Sandeen, executive director of the Oregon-based Death with Dignity National Center, says the law has strong mental health protections.

It requires a doctor to refer a patient to counseling if mental illness or depression appears to be affecting the patient's judgment.

If a patient is referred for counseling, he or she must have a mental health professional's approval before continuing with the process, Sandeen said.

Oregon tracks the reasons that people report for requesting lethal drugs. More than 80 percent name three issues: losing their independence, losing their dignity and being less able to take part in the things that make life enjoyable.