REJECTING THE RIGHT TO DIE

November 1999
		Congress has approved legislation that would penalize physicians who assist in suicides. The vote overrides an Oregon law from 1997 that allows doctors to prescribe lethal doses of painkillers for their patients.

Forum Introduction. Is effective legislation attainable? Was Oregon a good model? Is euthanasia legal? How do insurance agencies react to doctor-assisted suicide? Does a dying person have different rights? Manipulating a dying person's decision   Oct. 27, 1999: The House votes against assisted suicide. Nov. 24, 1998: Assisted suicide in Oregon. Browse the NewsHour's coverage of health.     Congressman Dave Weldon Oregon Department of Justice U.S. House of Representatives	George Darby of Palmdale, CA asks: Do you think doctors want the right to terminate an individuals life? Given the subjective nature of pain (different for everyone) do you think effective legislation is even obtainable? David Schuman, Deputy Attorney General, Oregon responds: I do not know if doctors want the right to terminate an individual's life. Under Oregon's statutel, of course, no doctor HAS to terminate an individual's life. If a patient wants a doctor to begin the process that ultimately ends when the doctor prescribes a lethal dose of medication, and the doctor does not want to, the doctor has no duty to participate. Republican Congressman Dave Weldon of Florida responds: Mr. Darby, I have worked as a physician of internal medicine for over 15 years, and in that time I have, naturally, befriended many doctors and physicians. To my knowledge, none of the physicians or doctors that I know personally would ever intentionally kill a patient. There are so many ways to treat a patient's pain. There are pills, suppositories, patches, IVs, and even a lollipop, which have medication that alleviate pain. The Pain Relief Promotion Act allows doctors the freedom to prescribe the necessary dosages of medication without the risk of prosecution should the dosage inadvertently lead to a patient's death. The reason that some patients are subject to unnecessary pain today is because some doctors fear prosecution if the doses of medications that are needed to treat a patient's pain has the unfortunate effect of hastening their demise. Tho other reason that some patients are forced to endure pain is because some physicians do not know how to effectively handle a patient's pain. The Pain Relief Promotion Act makes pain management training more easily available for physiicans. By addressing these issues, I see no need for a physican to even desire the right to prescribe a lethal dose of drugs to their patients.