X-Message-Number: 23960 From: Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 01:11:25 EDT Subject: Oregon Euthanasia Hi all: I have said here before that with many diseases we deteriorate severely in the last couple of weeks of life, and we suffer greatly. Therefore I want to be deanimated a few weeks early, while future rescuers still have something to work with. Preferably by hypothermia, specifically blood cooling as used for brain surgery but prolonged until the heart stops. Then the physician pronounces death immediately, and the rescue team takes over, giving the patient an optimal chance for survival. Note that this plan has a double benefit: deliverance from pain, misery, indignity and two weeks of life you wouldn't want to live anyway; AND optimum chances for revival. I've spoken of doing this in Switzerland, which allows assisted suicide, and am looking into this. But I have just realized that we in the U.S. don't have to go to Switzerland -- Oregon allows euthanasia. In Switzerland the doctor could connect you to the machine but you'd have to push the button (assisted suicide). In Oregon, if you were unconscious the doctor could do it all (euthanasia). Plus, Oregon is closer so rescue teams would be more practical and less expensive. Does anyone on Cryonet live in Oregon? Would they be willing to research this? As I understand the law you must get a couple of doctors to pronounce you suitably close to death, and convince some officials that you want to die. Under the circumstances this part would be straightforward. But does the law allow euthanasia by hypothermia, or hypothermia before euthanasia? Does it at least allow euthanasia by undamaging methods -- e.g. an injection to stop the heart? Would any doctor agree to perform euthanasia by (or with) cooling first? Could we educate some surgeons on this, and try to persuade them? Could we develop a standard form a patient could give to his guardian holding medical power of attorney, to instruct this person to have this done to the patient if the patient is unconscious and unable to arrange these things for himself? What else would be required before this plan could be used? Alan Mole Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" [ AUTOMATICALLY SKIPPING HTML ENCODING! ] Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=23960