Thus far Oregon is the only state to legalize physician-assisted suicide, which is loosely regulated. But respect for life may be facing another threat there.
Oregonian Barbara Wagner is dying of lung Cancer. Oregon's Health Services Commission has said it will not pay for more treatment, but will provide $50 in lethal drugs so she can kill herself. Dr. David Stevens heads the Christian Medical Association. "I think this is a terrible situation for patients in Oregon, and something that's going to happen in other states as physician-assisted suicide is legalized," he laments. "Oregon is rationing healthcare and is also sending a message to dying patients that physician-assisted suicide is the cheap option and they would encourage people to take it." Stevens believes that is a conflict of interest for the state because it controls the medical funds. "End-of-life chemotherapy can cost thousands of dollars a month, and bureaucrats -- in an attempt to save money -- are telling patients [they] can't provide money for ... chemotherapy, but here take these pills and they will comfort you [and] end your stress." The situation goes against the grain of medical ethics, says Stevens. "Palliative care means helping take care of symptoms when you can't eliminate the cause of the patient's illness," he explains. "They're stating [that] the way to comfort someone is to get rid of the patient. That's a terrible message to send to seriously ill patients." As it would be, he says, to send the same message to people with chronic diseases or physical handicaps, or to the comatose who cannot make the decision themselves, that they are doing the state a favor in dying. A pharmaceutical company is now providing Wagner with cancer drugs for which the state will not pay.
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