504 sought life-ending drugs under new law
‘I think how much it would have broken my heart to see her suffering’
SAN DIEGO – At least 504 terminally ill Californians have requested a prescription for life-ending drugs since a state law allowing doctor-assisted deaths went into effect in June 2016, marking the first publicly released data on how the practice is playing out in the nation’s most populous state.
The number released Thursday represents only those who have contacted Compassion & Choices, an advocacy group that provides information on the process. The organization believes the overall figure to be much higher. State officials have not released data yet.
How the new law is used in California could provide a window into what would happen if the practice spreads nationwide. Some see providing the choice to the dying as a logical evolution in a medical care system advanced in helping people live longer but limited in preventing slow, painful deaths.
Critics say they are concerned that the option will lead to hasty decisions, misdiagnosis and waning support for palliative care, in which dying people can be sedated to relieve suffering.
Betsy Davis was among the first Californians to use the law. The 41-year-old artist with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, held a party to say goodbye to her family and friends before taking the lethal dose of drugs July 24.
Her sister, Kelly Davis, said the family has no regrets about her decision.
“It’s only strengthened my belief in the law,” Kelly Davis said. “Sometimes I think about where she would have been in the progression of the illness at this point. Would she be on a breathing machine? Would she be able to eat? I think the answer would be yes to the breathing machine, and no to the eating.
“I think how much it would have broken my heart to see her suffering. The fact she had that option, she embraced that option, it gave her back a sense of control,” Davis said.
Oregon was the first state to adopt such a law in 1997. It reported 204 people received life-ending prescriptions last year, and of those, 133 people died from ingesting the drugs, including 19 recipients from prior years. Most were older than 65 and had cancer.
Doctor-assisted deaths are also legal in Colorado, Montana, Vermont, Washington state and Washington, D.C.
Under California’s law, which marks its anniversary June 9, patients must be given six months or less to live, make two verbal requests within 15 days of each other and submit a written request.
“We won’t have the full picture until the state releases its data about how many people have utilized the law, but we have enough evidence to show it is working remarkably well in a state with 10 times Oregon’s population,” said Matt Whitaker, Compassion & Choices’ California director.