Nancy Elliott: Letter to Maryland Senators opposing the assisted suicide bills.

Dear Senator

Nancy Elliott

Please vote no on assisted suicide bills HB 399 and SB 311. I know there are some that believe we have a right to die. Anyone can kill themselves. What assisted suicide laws do is give rights to doctors to make you dead. They are also giving rights to the government to decide who has the right to live and who is deserving of death. Governments should not be trusted with this power.

Assisted suicide and euthanasia are at their heart eugenic. They seek to eliminate the weak, sick and elderly among us, while promoting what they call autonomy, which is only valuing individuals who are healthy and productive. They seek to morph Darwin's "Survival of the Fittest" into, only the fittest are allowed to survive. This thinking was gaining traction in the US until the Nazi's tried their human experiment and Americans were repulsed.

Proponents say the new euthanasia is not like the earlier form. They claim it is entirely voluntary. While some may think they chose this, how many were actually steered? Steering is the elephant in the room. 

I was at a hearing for assisted suicide in Massachusetts where a doctor stated that assisted suicide laws were something he supported. He continued with his points and ended by saying that he felt it was the responsibility for a good doctor “to guide people to make the right choice”. I do not think he intended to say that but is there any doubt that this pro-suicide doctor would try to persuade his patients to follow his wishes, concerning their assisted suicide.

Then there is steering done by family and “so called” friends. It is easy to persuade people that they should give up. Perhaps they are tired of caring for a person or are looking to inherit. We see the most egregious example in the Dutch woman, whose doctor had the family hold her down while she fought and was euthanized against her will. Our opponents call this compassionate, caring and choice. (1)

Seniors are at risk and easily fall victim to coercion as the process is open to that. In most states, heirs can be there for the request and even speak. Anyone can pick up the lethal dose. Once in the house all oversight is gone, there is no witness required at the death. Even if they struggled who would know.

Eligible people are not necessarily dying. Think of a 21-year-old otherwise healthy insulin dependent diabetic. He qualifies if he rejects his insulin. This would be the same for many other people with serious conditions, who take prescription medications. What about all the curable cancers? They qualify.

What about the 5% of incorrect medical diagnosis? With assisted suicide on the table these mistakes are deadly.

This is about disability. If you have a disability you are encouraged to commit suicide. If, on the other hand, you are young and healthy, you are given suicide counselling. This is discrimination. This law is a “special” carve out, for the sick, elderly and disabled.

Follow the money. There are people and entities that stand to make a profit if "expensive" individuals are euthanized at the earliest moment. Winners would include, insurers, nursing homes, hospitals, government entities and people who are heavily invested in these areas.

Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia are not in the public interest. Please vote no on HB 399 and SB 311.

(1) Dutch doctor who euthanized woman with dementia without consent is being prosecuted (Link).

Sincerely, 
Nancy Elliott 
Euthanasia Prevention Coalition USA

New Mexico assisted suicide bill (HB 90) was stopped.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

New Mexico legislature.

I have amazing news. 

The New Mexico assisted suicide bill (HB 90) has been tabled. I assessed that HB 90 was the most extreme assisted suicide bill that I had ever seen, and even after it was amended, the language of the bill allowed for euthanasia and enabled the practise of the law to expand.

Yesterday, the Arkansas assisted suicide bill also died.

An article by Robert Nott published in the Sante Fe New Mexican stated:

Though the bill, known as the Elizabeth Whitefield End of Life Options Act, made it through two House committees this year, it was quietly tabled in the House of Representatives in late February.

On Tuesday, Armstrong wrote in an email that the bill was tabled “at my request.”

“At the time we are just a few votes shy to pass the bill,” she said.

Alexandra Snyder (lawyer) speaking on January 26.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition held the Stopping Assisted Suicide in Your State Training Seminar on Friday January 25 and Conference on Saturday January 26 in Albuquerque NM. 

The events featuring world-wide speakers and excellent presentations by Not Dead Yet, Choice is an Illusion and the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.

The Stopping Assisted Suicide in Your State events were well attended by local leaders from many different groups who became focussed on how to defeat the assisted suicide bill. It is very expensive to organize these events but the results are life saving.

We have received several messages from key leaders in New Mexico, and other states asking us to organize similar events.

Thank you to all of the New Mexico citizens and leaders who testified against HB 90 and spoke to State representatives and Senators. The bill was first amended and then tabled.

Coalition building and relationships enable us to focus on defeating the bill together and the result is that we stop assisted suicide in your state.

Belgian euthanasia doctor admits that 1000 people die each year by euthanasia without request.

Alex Schadenberg
Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Belgian 2014 euthanasia protest.

All is not good in the Belgian euthanasia lobby as leaders and advocates argue about organ donation by euthanasia and euthanasia without request.

An article by Simon Demeulemeester and Jeroen de Preter published in The Knack last year concerns comments by euthanasia doctors Marc Cosyns and Wim Distelmans. In response to Ivo Poppe, a nurse who admitted to killing 10 - 20 people, including his mother, Cosyns told the Belgian media that each year there are 1000 assisted deaths without request.

Dr Marc Cosyns

Cosyns only restated the data from a study published in the NEJM (April 19, 2015)  indicating that 1.7%  of all deaths  (more than 1000) in the Flanders region of Belgium, were hastened without explicit request in 2013.

An earlier study found that 1.8% of all deaths in the Flanders region of Belgium were hastened without explicit request, in 2007, meaning that the problem has been consistent.

Distelmans, the chair of the Belgian euthanasia commission, attempts to cover-up the data from the study by stating that ending of life without consent occurred before euthanasia became legal and is only done when a physician has "no choice." Distelmans says (google translated):

Doctors in particular who stood with their backs against the wall. Their decision was always well-considered and well-reasoned. If a nurse was involved, it was purely to provide technical assistance, for example by installing an infusion. It is unthinkable that nurses would administer a euthanatic drug on their own.

Distelmans not only tries to covers-up the data from the  NEJM (April 19, 2015) study, he covers-up the data from a study that was published in the CMAJ (May 17, 2010)  indicating that in 2007, nurses participated in 248 euthanasia deaths with 120 of those deaths being done without the explicit consent of the patient. The data also indicated that nurses participated in 12% of the euthanasia deaths with a request from the patient and 45% of the euthanasia deaths that they participated in were done without the request of the patient.

Several years ago Dr Cosyns stated that he does not report the euthanasia deaths that he does because he believes that euthanasia is no different than any other medical or palliative care procedure. The Knack article reports that Cosyns wants the euthanasia law to now be dismantled.

Belgian euthanasia doctor supports euthanasia by organ donation.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Dr Marc Cosyns

A well known Belgian euthanasia promoter, Dr Cosyns, makes the case for euthanasia by organ donation in an article in the Knack. 

In his article, Cosyns refers to a patient "Vera" who is nearing death and wants to donate as many organs as possible. Based on Vera's story, Cosyns argues that the organ donation rules need to change since it is not possible to donate a heart when transplant is done after euthanasia. Cosyns writes (google translated):

In ' Medisch Contact' I read an article about 'donation-after-euthanasia-can-more-than-expected - too little organ donation after euthanasia'. In the Netherlands, organs were transplanted 46 times from a patient who had euthanasia during the 2012-2017 period. 35 times in the period 2005-2017 in Belgium. That can be done much more often, the doctors and researchers calculated. However, according to the 'Directive on organ donation after euthanasia', doctors are not allowed to start talking about the possibility of transplantation because the question cannot be experienced as pressure. 

Nevertheless, patients do benefit from information on this. "For many patients, this way of giving meaning to death is a perspective that unfortunately often remains underexposed," they write, arguing for greater awareness. Nevertheless, some are hesitant about the link with euthanasia, noted with criminal / religious crime. Euthanasia also means a Non Heart Beating donation.

According to Cosyns article in the Knack, he wants the organ donations rules need to be amended because it is not possible to donate a heart after euthanasia. 

Cosyns is consistent. If it is OK to kill someone by lethally injection (euthanasia) why isn't it OK to kill them by removing their organs?

Several years ago Dr Cosyns stated that he does not report the euthanasia deaths that he does  because he believes that euthanasia is no different than any other medical or palliative care procedure. Dr Cosyns was not reprimanded after admitting that he doesn't report euthanasia, making it understandable that around 40% of the euthanasia deaths in 2013 were not reported.

Alberta: 50% increase in MAiD euthanasia deaths in 2018.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

An article by Gillian Slade for the Medicine Hat News reports that the number of euthanasia deaths, referred to as MAiD, increased by 50% in Alberta in 2018. Euthanasia was legalized on June 17, 2016 in Canada.

The report states that there were 69 assisted deaths in 2016, 205 assisted deaths in 2017 and 307 assisted deaths in 2018 in Alberta.

The data must include some 2019 deaths since it refers to 600 deaths. The article states:

Of the 600 cases so far, 379 were carried out in a facility and 221 in the community, according to the AHS report. A total of 64 patients were transferred from mainly faith-based facilities in order to receive MAID and 12 were transferred from non-faith-based facilities to a participating facility or to the patient’s home.

The only other province to release euthanasia data is Québec which stated that between July 2017 and March 2018 there was an approximate 75% increase in assisted deaths. The Québec report indicates that 10% of the assisted deaths were not administered according to the law and 142 assisted deaths were not reported.

The Alberta data does not indicate how many deaths did not fulfill the criteria of the law or were not reported.

Oregon assisted suicide 2018: new highs (new lows)

This article was published by the Care Not Killing Alliance (UK) on March 4, 2019

Assisted suicide numbers continue to rise in Oregon, with almost two thirds now citing fear of being a burden as a reason for ending their lives, as lawmakers consider widening eligibility

Oregon used to be the blue-eyed boy of the assisted suicide movement in England. Lionised by Lord Falconer and Rob Marris MP, it was said to show how legalised assisted suicide could be regulated and trusted, but the Westminster bills that followed it failed, with MPs rejecting the 2015 Marris Bill 330-118 because of the clear evidence that assisted suicide always becomes what it was not planned to be.

The release of the 21st annual report, for 2018, only adds to the reasons not to allow euthanasia a toehold in the UK.

Oregon 2018 assisted suicide report. A record number of assisted deaths.

Record high number of deaths

Last year in Oregon, 168 people died after ingesting lethal drugs prescribed by a doctor, ten more than in 2017. To put that into context, Oregon is a state of 4.19m people; if the 168 deaths were extrapolated for a UK-sized population of 66m, the death toll would be more like 2,646. Imagine the London Palladium or Royal Opera House filled to capacity; then have 400 more people sit cross-legged on the stage; then shut off the lights. One of the reasons assisted suicide campaigners like to focus on individual hard cases is that they don't have to address how, once legalised, the practice becomes normalised, and with each passing year more and more people come to believe they too should seek death.

Almost two thirds feared being a burden

Assisted suicide and euthanasia are often presented as resolving a medical issue, but the chief reasons cited are always existential.

Once again last year, the proportion of those seeking assisted suicide not wishing to be a burden on loved ones and caregivers rose, this time to 63.6%. Campaigners might note that this didn't top the list: 95.6% cited being 'less able to engage in activities making life enjoyable' and 95.1% cited 'losing autonomy', but these are inextricably linked with the concept of being a burden and speak to the care and support available to people with terminal and incurable conditions and how those people feel in accepting these, to say nothing also of the support given to carers by employers and local authorities. The very idea of a physician endorsing suicidal intent on the grounds of not wanting to be a burden is obscene.

Some doctors prescribed lethal drugs every 10 or 11 days

Doctor-shopping is a known facet of assisted suicide in practice. Some doctors do not participate due to conscientious objections; others might assess patients who in their opinion do not meet the legal criteria. Some doctors, however, are at ease with the practice of prescribing lethal drugs to patients: the 249 prescriptions written in 2018 were made out by 103 doctors; at least one of these doctors made out 35 on their own; averaged out across the year, they sought to assist a patient's suicide every 10 or 11 days. 'Patient' suggests a meaningful relationship, but prescriptions were made out on the basis of doctor-patient relationships lasting as little as a week.

They could have lived for years

Oregon law stipulates that assisted suicide is available to 'an adult who... has been determined by the attending physician and consulting physician to be suffering from a terminal disease', the latter being defined as 'an incurable and irreversible disease that has been medically confirmed and will, within reasonable medical judgment, produce death within six months.' The flexibility of this definition has been acknowledged openly by health officials, and the statistics once more demonstrate the unreliability of a six month prognosis. Patients lived for up to 730 days between first request and death among those whose assisted suicides fell last year; that's more than two years. The record is 1,009 days - almost three years - and of course there is no knowing how long those patients could have lived even beyond those two or three years. How many of those told they were near the end and who took the cocktail of barbiturates in short order could in fact have lived for many more months or years? We can never know.

Of course, much of this would be academic if the state representatives and senators behind HB 2232 get their way: they wish to redefine terminal illness as 'a disease that will, within reasonable medical judgment, produce or substantially contribute to a patient's death.'
Complications

Last year in Oregon, three of those who died had difficulty ingesting or regurgitated the drugs, with a further four suffering 'other' unspecified complications. There were 168 deaths last year, and for 105, there is no report either way on complications. We do know that there would have been 169 deaths, but one participant 'regained consciousness after ingesting DWDA medications.' For researchers writing in the journal of the Association of Anaesthetists recently, such complications raise 'a concern that some ["assisted dying"] deaths may be inhumane'. So much for "dignity".

"Assisted Dying" - for arthritis and diabetes

The 21st report is the most detailed yet with regard to the underlying illnesses of those who have died. Two people had 'Endocrine/metabolic disease e.g. diabetes', and six people had 'other illnesses'. A footnote regarding the latter says that 'includes deaths due to arthritis, arteritis, sclerosis, stenosis, kidney failure, and musculoskeletal systems disorders'. Note 'due to': 'the Oregon Health Authority, Center for Health Statistics recommends that physicians record the underlying terminal disease as the cause of death and mark the manner of death "natural"' - despite the cause of death in fact being the supply and ingestion of a prescribed overdose of barbiturates.
The Oregon statistics are a patchwork of new highs and new lows; linguistic contortions and administrative deceits. Taken as a whole, they are yet another reminder that the warm and comforting theory of advocates in the UK doesn't stand up to the buffeting of reality where legislators have made the unenviable decision to make death a form of care. The enduring lesson is clear: don't go there.

Fear is driving support for assisted suicide.

The following letter was published by the Baltimore Sun on March 5, 2019.

Dr Janet D Conway

As a physician, I have the ultimate respect for life. All my training over the last 30 years has been to promote, support and protect life. I am opposed to the recently renamed End-Of-Life Option Act (“Medically assisted suicide bill moves forward in Maryland General Assembly,” Mar. 1). Call it what you want, it’s still physician-assisted suicide.

I realize that no one can cheat death. That event will happen regardless. What is driving this unfortunate bill is fear. Fear of pain, fear of being a burden, fear of lack of control, fear of feeling hopeless and depressed. Only poor decisions can be made based on fear and lack of knowledge.

As a physician, it is my job to educate and support patients so that they live the completion of their life to the fullest. This means that I reassure them that their pain will be well-managed and follow through on resources to help them with this. They don’t have to live in fear of pain because we have tackled this problem head-on. I also can support my patients by giving them numerous resources to help them as they are sick and dying.

There are many agencies that will assist patients who need help at home when their families are not available to assist them. This includes hospice care. This alleviates the fear of being a burden to their families. There are so many ways to plan for one’s death naturally including, as my mother-in-law did, selecting the dress in which she was buried and asking her friend the priest to say her funeral mass. A patient is able to die in peace when they are not rushing to end their life because of fear.

Kind, caring, compassionate physicians are the ones who can really guide and help their patients navigate this.

Any doctor who chooses to assist his patient in taking his own life has preyed upon an innocent victim. How can anyone trust a doctor to be fully supportive of their health and well-being when they also have the legal right to kill? I did not spent 10 years in training to obtain a licence to kill. I do not support suicide and neither should your doctor.

Dr. Janet D. Conway, Baltimore

The writer is an orthopaedic surgeon and division head of bone and joint infection at the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopaedics at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore.

Florida man murdered, by daughters, claimed to be "euthanasia."

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Nicole Darrah, with Fox News, reported that Mary-Beth Tomaselli, 63, and Linda Roberts, 62, were charged with murder in the death of their father, Anthony Tomaselli, after telling a friend how they killed their father.

Murder is sadly a common occurrance, what makes this murder different is that the sisters claimed it was "euthanasia." According to Fox News.

The women said "they had killed their father, and had, quote, 'euthanized' him because he had been ill" and refused to go to an assisted living facility, according to the sheriff. He added, "They knew he would die sometime in the next couple of months, so they decided to euthanize him."

The women killed their father for money. Fox reported:

Once their father was dead, the daughters sold the home and split a $120,000 profit with their brother, who the sheriff's office said wasn't involved in the father's murder.

Terminally ill people are vulnerable to friends and family members who are willing to kill for personal gain and then claim that it was a "compassionate homicide."
Similar stories: 

• Kansas man found guilty of murder after claiming it was an assisted suicide.  
• Convicted killer in BC tried using assisted suicide defense.  
• The media appears to be trying to create an assisted suicide story. 
• Quèbec man uses "mercy killing" defense in the murder of his wife.

Exposing abuse of the Oregon assisted suicide law. Two doctors accused of alleged abuse of the Oregon assisted suicide law.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The recently released 2018 DWD assisted suicide statistics indicated that two physicians were referred to the Oregon Medical Board for failure to comply with the assisted suicide law. 

The assisted suicide report does not indicate what they were accused of doing or not doing and it does not provide references for the alleged abuse of the law.

Order the pamphlet - Shedding light on assisted suicide in America.

This is a significant issue considering the number of states that are debating legislation to legalize assisted suicide under the guise that there have been no problems in Oregon.

A search of the Oregon Medical Board disciplinary actions on September 15, 2018, Dr Rose Kenny was disciplined by the Medical Board. The order from the meeting states:

3.1 Licensee must not prescribe or manage the prescriptions for any medication for any patient enrolled in hospice care, 

3.2 Licensee must not prescribe or manage the prescriptions for any medication for any patient requesting Death with Dignity.

The Oregon Medical Board states that the matter is under investigation and it does not provide information concerning the reason for the order.

The minutes of the meeting of the Oregon Medical Board (October 4, 5, 2018) indicates that the Board approved the notice of complaint and proposed disciplinary action based on the possible violation of the Medical Practice Act as well as violations of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act.

Since the Oregon Death with Dignity Act concerns prescribing lethal drugs to intentionally cause death, it appears that Dr Kenny has been treated leniently, especially since this is not the first time she has been brought before the Oregon Medical Board.

An internet search found the article: Redmond doctor avoids losing license despite complaints that was written by Tara Bannow and published in The Bulletin on October 7, 2016. The article explains the agreement between Dr Kenny and the Oregon Medical Board. Kenny kept her medical license by accepting an $8500 fine and five years probation. The article in The Bulletin  states:

Kenny escaped what could have been much harsher punishment: She faced losing her license and a $10,000 fine. 

Since Dr Kenny agreed to a five year probation in 2016 and is now being disciplined for allegedly abusing the assisted suicide law, her medical license should have been suspended until the investigation is complete.

Defining assisted suicide within the framework of medical treatment means that abuse of the law is not brought before a court, even though the death of a patient has occurred. It is easier to hide assisted suicide abuse within a medical framework as compared to a legal framework.

Finally, the assisted suicide law was designed to cover-up abuse. The Oregon law has a self-reporting system requiring the physician who prescribes the lethal drugs to also be the physician who submits the report, after the death. Physicians will not self-report abuse of the law.

I have not found information about the second physician mentioned in the report. If anyone has references to the second physician please contact me at: alex@epcc.ca

Many assisted suicide deaths are slow and painful, not dignified or compassionate.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.

The release of the data from the recent 2018 Oregon DWD report indicates that some Oregon assisted suicide deaths were long and drawn out, but the report doesn't provide data on the suffering associated with these deaths. This article examines the suffering experienced while dying.

According to the 2018 Oregon assisted suicide report. There were 168 reported assisted suicide deaths up from 158 in 2017.

• 11 of the deaths, the lethal drugs were prescribed in previous years.
• 3 of the patients were referred for a psychological or psychiatric evaluation.
• There were 249 lethal prescriptions obtained, up from 218 in 2017.
• When dying from DCMP2, death took an average of 2 hours, with the longest time taking 21 hours.

Oregon 2018 assisted suicide report. A record number of assisted deaths.

Recently I published the article - assisted dying can cause inhumane deaths that was based on research by Professor Jaideep Pandit as published in the British Medical Journal. Pandit researched complications with deaths by assisted suicide and capital punishment. 

Pandit reports that the complications include:

difficulty in swallowing the prescribed dose (up to nine per cent) and vomiting in 10 per cent, both of which can prevent proper dosing. 

Re-emergence from a coma occurred in two per cent of cases, with a small number of patients even sitting up during the dying process, the authors said. 

After oral sedative ingestion, patients usually lose consciousness within five minutes. However, death takes considerably longer.  

But in a third of cases, death can take up to 30 hours, and some deaths took as many as seven days to occur (four per cent).

The recently released 2018  Oregon DWD assisted suicide report indicates that the longest duration for death was 21 hours and when the DCMP2 lethal drug cocktail was used the average death took 2 hours.

The Oregon assisted suicide report does not report the extent of suffering caused by assisted suicide drugs.

An article by JoNel Aleccia published by Kaiser Health News on March 5, 2017 examined the experiments by assisted suicide activists to find a cheaper alternative drug cocktail for assisted suicide. 

Research into a new death drug cocktail began after Seconal became too expensive and Pentobarbital became unavailable in the US. 

The article states:

The first Seconal alternative turned out to be too harsh, burning patients’ mouths and throats, causing some to scream in pain. The second drug mix, used 67 times, has led to deaths that stretched out hours in some patients — and up to 31 hours in one case.

The lethal drug cocktail experiments were done with human experiments. Even though people suffered greatly from the lethal cocktail, the drug experiments were done on 67 people.

An article by Jennie Dear published on January 22, 2019 in the Atlantic reports on the development of the lethal drugs cocktails. 

The Atlantic article reports:

In 2016, a small group of doctors gathered in a Seattle conference room to find a better way to help people die. They included physicians at the forefront of medical aid in dying—the practice of providing terminal patients with a way to end their own life. And they were there because the aid-in-dying movement had recently run into a problem. The two lethal medications used by most patients for decades had suddenly become either unavailable or prohibitively expensive. 

The meeting of the 2016 group set in motion research that would lead the recipe for one of the most widely used aid-in-dying drugs in the United States. But the doctors’ work has taken place on the margins of traditional science. Despite their principled intentions, it’s a part of medicine that’s still practiced in the shadows.

The Atlantic article continues:

In Washington, an advocacy organization called End of Life Washington briefly advised prescribing a drug mixture with the sedative chloral hydrate to about 70 patients. “We know this is going to put you to sleep, and we’re pretty sure it’s going to kill you,” Robert Wood, a medical director at the organization, says they told the patients. It worked, but with a tragic catch: In a few cases, the chloral hydrate burned people’s throats, causing severe pain just at the time they expected relief.

The Atlantic article explains how the group did human experimentation on the lethal drug cocktail known as DMP:

Next, the group had to test the drug. But they still didn’t have a way to follow standard procedure: There would be no government-approved clinical drug trial, and no Institutional Review Board oversight when they prescribed the concoction to patients. The doctors took what precautions they could. Patients could opt in or out, and for the first 10 deaths, either Parrot or Law would stay by the bedside and record patients’ and families’ responses. 

The first two deaths went smoothly. But the third patient, an 81-year-old with prostate cancer, took 18 hours to die.

The article explains that the group stopped DMP testing, met by conference call and decided to try a new lethal cocktail called DDMP. The article explains:

At first, Parrot gave patients latitude in how they took this new drug combination. “One guy chugged a half a cup of Bailey’s Irish Cream, his favorite thing, after he had his medicine,” she says. “He probably took five or six hours to die.” She suspects that the fat particles in the Bailey’s slowed his gastric emptying. So the researchers checked in with each other again, and decided to increase the doses to what Parrot calls “blue-whale-sized doses.” They dubbed the modified formula DDMP2.

So this is how the assisted suicide lobby developed the lethal drug cocktail DDMP2, referred to as DCMP2 in the 2018 Oregon DWD report.

The assisted suicide promoters and practitioners developed the lethal drug cocktail by doing human trials rather than animal trials first. The team appeared concerned with the lethal efficacy and cost of the lethal cocktail as opposed to the possible negative consequences with the use of these drugs.

Before legalizing assisted suicide, legislators need to know how it is done, the negative consequences associated with these drugs and the ethics related to the development and use of these drugs.

So much for dying with compassion and dignity.

Belgium 2018 euthanasia report. 247% increase since 2010

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Belgian euthanasia protest (2014)

The 2018 Belgian euthanasia report, released on February 28, indicates that in 2018 there were 2357 reported assisted deaths, up from 2309. The report suggests that the number of deaths are stable. There were 954 reported assisted deaths in 2010 representing a 247% increase in 8 years.

Belgian 2017 euthanasia report. Deaths continue to increase and children are dying by euthanasia.

Tine Neys (center) died by euthanasia in 2010.

The slowed growth in euthanasia deaths is likely based on the courts agreeing to examine some of the most controversial cases. For instance, Europe's top human rights court, in January agreed to hear the case of a depressed Belgian woman who died by euthanasia and last November three Belgian doctors were charged in the euthanasia death for psychiatric reasons.

Since 2010, Belgium has extended the law and expanded the reasons that it approves euthanasia by re-interpreting the law.

In 2018 there were 57 (2.4%) of deaths for mental or behavioral conditions, 83 (3.5%) for psychiatric reasons alone and 1% of the reported deaths were incompetent people who had made a previous request. No children were reported to die by euthanasia in 2018.

There may be many more assisted deaths in Belgium.

Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) (March 19, 2015) on the Belgian euthanasia practice found that in 2013:

• 4.6% of all deaths in the Flanders region were euthanasia.
• .05% of all deaths in the Flanders region were assisted suicide.
• 1.7% of all deaths in the Flanders region were hastened without explicit request.

Comparing the data from the 2013 NEJM study to the official 2013 Belgian euthanasia commission data one must conclude that almost half of the euthanasia deaths in 2013 were not reported to the commission.

The NEJM study concluded that 1.7% of all deaths were hastened without explicit request in 2013 representing more than 1000 deaths.

Ludo Vanopdenbosch

In 2017, Dr Ludo Vanopdenbosch, a palliative care specialist, resigned from the Belgian euthanasia commission after the commission approved the death of a woman who could not consent to euthanasia. Vanopdenbosch explained in his resignation letter that:

The most striking example took place at a meeting in early September, ... when the group discussed the case of a patient with severe dementia, who also had Parkinson's disease. To demonstrate the patient's lack of competence, a video was played showing what Vanopdenbosch characterized as "a deeply demented patient."  

The patient, whose identity was not disclosed, was euthanized at the family's request... There was no record of any prior request for euthanasia from the patient.

The Associated Press revealed a rift between Dr. Wim Distelmans, co-chair of the euthanasia commission, and Dr. Lieve Thienpont, a psychiatrist who is actively doing euthanasia for psychiatric reasons. Distelmans suggested that some of Thienpont's patients might have been killed without meeting all the legal requirements. After the AP report, more than 360 doctors, academics and others have signed a petition calling for tighter controls on euthanasia for psychiatric patients.

I hope that the Belgian people will wake-up and realize how crazy the euthanasia ideology has become and recognize the social and human destruction that euthanasia has caused.

Oregon 2018 assisted suicide report. A record number of assisted deaths.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition 

The 2018 Oregon annual assisted suicide report is similar to prior years. The report implies that the deaths were voluntary (self-administered), but the information in the report does not address that subject.

Order the pamphlet - Shedding light on assisted suicide in America.

According to the 2018 Oregon assisted suicide report.

• There were 168 reported assisted suicide deaths up from 158 in 2017.  When published, the 2017 report claimed that 143 people died by assisted suicide, 15 fewer than the actual number of death.
• 168 of 169 people who reportedly ingested lethal drugs in 2018, died from it, one person survived and died of natural causes.
• 11 of the deaths, the lethal drugs were prescribed in previous years.
• 3 of the patients were referred for a psychological or psychiatric evaluation.
• 2 physicians were referred to the Oregon Medical Board for failure to comply with the law.
• The time of death ranged from 9 minutes to 14 hours. When dying from DCMP2, death took on average 2 hours, with the longest time taking 21 hours.
• In 2018 one person died 807 days (more than 2 years and 2 months) after requesting assisted death.
• 43 people received lethal prescriptions, but their "ingestion" status is unknown.
• There were 249 lethal prescriptions obtained, up from 218 in 2017.

There may be more assisted suicide deaths.

According to the 2018 Oregon report, the ingestion status was unknown in 43 deaths. Last year the report stated that 143 people died by assisted suicide but then revised the report to state that 158 people died by assisted suicide.

When the ingestion status is unknown, it is possible that the person died by assisted suicide. Some or all of these deaths may represent unreported assisted deaths.

Oregon politicians debating expanding the eligibility criteria in the Oregon assisted suicide act.

Recently the Oregon suicide lobby stated that they intend to expand the definitions in the assisted suicide law. 

Oregon House Bill HB 2232 proposes to change the definition of terminal from a six month prognosis to:

a disease that will, within reasonable medical judgment, produce or substantially contribute to a patient’s death.

Many people who are not "terminally" ill have a disease that will, within reasonable medical judgement, produce or substantially contribute to death. When considering the OHA inclusion of refusing medical treatment, this new definition enables wide-open assisted suicide.

Oregon Senate Bill SB 0579 enables a physician to wave the 15 waiting period when prescribing lethal drugs for suicide. The current Oregon assisted suicide law requires a 15 day waiting period. SB 0579 states:

Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, if the qualified patient’s attending physician has medically confirmed that the qualified patient will, within reasonable medical judgment, die before the expiration of at least one of the waiting periods described in subsection (1) of this section, the prescription for medication under ORS 127.800 to 127.897 may be written at any time following the later of the qualified patient’s written request or second oral request under ORS 127.840.

By waving the 15 day waiting period, a person can be approved for assisted suicide and die the next day.

Oregon Health authority has an expanded definition of terminal.

In December 2017, Fabian Stahle, a Swedish researcher who is concerned about assisted suicide, communicated by email with a representative of the Oregon Health Authority.

• Oregon Health Authority reveals hidden problems with the Oregon assisted suicide law.

Stahle confirmed that the definition of terminal illness, used by the Oregon Health Authority includes people who may become terminally ill if they refuse effective medical treatment.

• Hidden problems with the Oregon assisted suicide law.

The responses to Stahle from the Oregon Health Authority also confirmed that there is no effective oversight of the Oregon assisted suicide law. 

• The Oregon assisted suicide act is designed to deceive.

The yearly Oregon DWD reports are based on data from the physicians who prescribe and carry-out the assisted suicide death and the data is not independently verified. Therefore, we don't know if the information from these reports is accurate or if abuse of the law occurs.