Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
The number of lethal poison prescriptions written under the Oregon assisted suicide law increased in 2025 to 637, which was up from 609 in 2024 and 566 in 2023.
Tom Jeanne, M.D., MPH, the deputy state health officer and epidemiologist at OHA’s Public Health Division stated that:
“What we’ve been seeing over the last several years is a steady overall increase in prescriptions and deaths among Death with Dignity Act participants,”The 2025 Oregon assisted suicide report indicated that there were 421 reported assisted suicide deaths in 2024 and 400 in 2025.
Similar to previous years the 2025 report updated the data from the 2024 report. The 2024 report stated that there were 376 reported assisted suicide deaths, but the 2025 report updated the data indicating that there were actually 421 reported assisted suicide deaths in 2024. The 2025 report increased the number of 2024 reported assisted suicide deaths by 45 or more than 12%.
Therefore the OHA received reports from 45 assisted suicide deaths in 2024 late.
The 2025 report indicated that there were 400 reported assisted deaths. I predict that the actual number is around 450 reported assisted suicide deaths or 12.5% higher.
According to the report:
- 24 (6%) of the 400 DWDA patients who died in 2025 had outlived their prognosis—that is, they lived more than six months after receiving their prescription.
- 37 prescription recipients (6%) lived outside Oregon, an increase from 24 (4%) in 2024.
- 94% of the participants were white
As in previous years, the three most frequently reported end‐of‐life concerns were:
- loss of autonomy (89%),
- decreasing ability to participate in activities that made life enjoyable (89%),
- and loss of dignity (65%).
As in previous years, pain and symptom control are not among the top reasons for assisted suicide in Oregon.
There is little oversight of the law and if a doctor did not submit an assisted suicide report, there is no way for the Oregon Health Authority to know.
The data also lacks accuracy since the law does not require third party oversight. Therefore it is impossible to know if the deaths were freely requested or voluntary.
It is important to note that the Oregon Health Authority depends on a self-reporting system. The data is gathered from the reports is submitted by the doctors who prescribed the suicide poison. Concerns with individual cases are "covered up" since the doctors who carry out the death also report the death.
Nothing in the report assures the readers that assisted suicide about choice and autonomy. These laws give doctors the legal right to be involved with killing their patients.
I am working on a deeper analysis of the Oregon 2025 assisted suicide report.
Links to more articles on this topic:
- The push to legalize and extend assisted suicide in America (Link).
- Oregon 2024 assisted suicide report (Link).
- Death by assisted suicide is not what you think it is (Link).
- Assisted suicide: Proceed with caution (Link).
- Assisted suicide is the wrong prescription (Link).
- Assisted suicide. It's not that simple (Link).
- Assisted suicide deaths are not what you think they are (Link).
- Assisted suicide is neither painless nor dignified (Link).
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