{"id":328849,"date":"2025-04-04T08:39:35","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T13:39:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=328849"},"modified":"2025-04-01T19:49:39","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T00:49:39","slug":"report-oregon-assisted-suicide-prescriptions-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/report-oregon-assisted-suicide-prescriptions-rise\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Oregon assisted suicide prescriptions continue to rise after drastic jump in 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Oregon Right to Life<\/a>) Oregon saw an 8% increase in physician-assisted suicide prescriptions in 2024, building upon a 30% spike in 2023, according to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA)\u2019s 27th annual report on the state\u2019s \u201cDeath With Dignity Act\u201d (DWDA). Assisted suicide deaths accounted for nearly 1% of all Oregon deaths in 2024.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the Oregon Health Authority released its annual report<\/a> on the state\u2019s \u201cDeath With Dignity\u201d data. The document showed an 8.2% increase in physician-assisted suicide prescriptions and a slight decrease (2.5%) in reported deaths \u2013 though ingestion status for 29% of patients was reportedly unknown as of the time of the report.<\/p>\n

Physicians in Oregon wrote 607 DWDA prescriptions in 2024, compared with 561 in 2023. 376 individuals are known to have died after consuming the drugs last year, compared with 386 in 2023. 43 of those who died in 2024 had been prescribed the lethal drugs in a previous year.<\/p>\n

23 patients who died after consuming lethal medications in 2024 had reportedly \u201coutlived their prognosis \u2013 that is, lived more than six months after receiving their prescription,\u201d according to the OHA report. 83% of those who died from Oregon\u2019s physician-assisted suicide drugs last year were over the age of 65, and 57% had cancer, down from 66% last year.\u00a022 people who died in 2024 after ingesting lethal drugs were from a state other than Oregon, a development made possible by Democrat Governor Tina Kotek\u2019s 2023 removal of the state\u2019s residency requirement.<\/p>\n

Oregon Right to Life Executive Director Lois Anderson called<\/a> the data \u201cdevastating\u201d in a Thursday press release.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce again, Oregon\u2019s assisted suicide report shows a devastating increase in lethal prescriptions for Oregon residents and people from other states,\u201d\u00a0Anderson said. \u201cLegal assisted suicide sends a harsh message that our state believes some lives \u2013 especially the elderly, disabled, and medically complex \u2013 are less worth living. Real dignity and compassion is shown in love, care, and support \u2013 not in offering death as a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only three patients were referred for psychological or psychiatric evaluation, according to the report, consistent with numbers typically reported in the annual OHA documents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe radically low number of reported psychological and psychiatric evaluations continues and is deeply concerning,\u201d Anderson said in the press statement. \u201cNo matter their age or condition, a patient\u2019s request for suicide should always trigger a thorough mental health analysis. Failure to provide this basic support for vulnerable patients is unconscionable.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ: UK lawmaker removes key safeguard from assisted suicide bill, sparking backlash<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Angela Plowhead, Psy.D., a licensed psychologist who specializes in cognitive and decision-making capacity assessment, told<\/a> Oregon Right to Life in a phone interview last month that mood disorders are common among people who are diagnosed with terminal diseases and may trigger suicidal ideation. She said there should be \u201ca pretty significant evaluation\u201d for mental health and potential mood disorders when a person expresses a desire for assisted suicide.<\/p>\n

For Dr. Plowhead, Oregon providers should focus on assessing and treating mental health disorders \u201cin a way that gives people hope,\u201d rather than offering death as a solution.<\/p>\n

Under Oregon\u2019s \u201cDeath With Dignity\u201d law, patients must be 18 or older, \u201ccapable of making and communicating health care decisions to health care practitioners,\u201d and be \u201cdiagnosed with a terminal illness that will lead to death within six months.\u201d Oregon Health Authority has confirmed<\/a> that patients would qualify for assisted suicide if their condition would, \u201cabsent further treatment,\u201d lead to death within six months. In practice, if patients with chronic conditions decide to opt out of continued treatment, they can qualify for assisted suicide under the law.<\/p>\n

Jessica Rodgers, Coalitions Director for Patients Rights Action Fund, highlighted<\/a> the broad practical criteria of the DWDA during a recent legislative hearing, noting that \u201cconditions here in Oregon like anorexia and diabetes qualify for physician-assisted suicide.\u201d<\/p>\n

And deaths under Oregon\u2019s assisted suicide program have risen year over year.<\/p>\n

In 2023, Oregon saw<\/a> a sharp 30% increase in DWDA prescriptions and a 20% increase in associated deaths. The increase has been partially linked to the removal of Oregon\u2019s residency requirement, allowing people from any state to travel to Oregon for a lethal prescription.<\/p>\n

Even as prescriptions and deaths continue to rise in Oregon, some are seeking to expand it even further.<\/p>\n

This year, during Oregon\u2019s 83rd legislative session, lawmakers are considering a bill that would drastically lower existing guardrails around the law.<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 1003 would reduce the 15-day waiting period to a mere 48 hours; allow non-physicians to prescribe lethal medication; and force health care facilities to publicly disclose their participation in assisted suicide, making it easier to funnel patients toward pro-assisted suicide facilities.<\/p>\n

Pro-life advocates have come out strongly against the bill, sending over 700 emails to lawmakers, submitting 174 written pieces of testimony, delivering live testimonies, and appearing at the Capitol in the dozens to demonstrate opposition to further expansions of assisted suicide….<\/p>\n

Read entire article at Oregon Right to Life<\/a><\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: This article was authored by Ashley Sadler and published at Oregon Right to Life<\/a>. It is reprinted here with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Oregon Right to Life) Oregon saw an 8% increase in physician-assisted suicide prescriptions in 2024, building upon a 30% spike in 2023, according to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA)\u2019s 27th annual report on the state\u2019s \u201cDeath With Dignity Act\u201d (DWDA). Assisted suicide deaths accounted for nearly 1% of all Oregon deaths in 2024. On Thursday, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":874,"featured_media":239006,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[7077],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nReport: Oregon assisted suicide prescriptions continue to rise after drastic jump in 2023<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""Real dignity and compassion is shown in love, care, and support \u2013 not in offering death as a solution.\u201d ~ ORTL's Lois Anderson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/report-oregon-assisted-suicide-prescriptions-rise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Report: Oregon assisted suicide prescriptions continue to rise 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