X-Message-Number: 9400 Date: Fri, 03 Apr 1998 11:03:49 -0700 From: David Brandt-Erichsen <> Subject: two Oregon reports ASSOCIATED PRESS (April 3/98; 3:24 am EST) MEMBERS OF CONGRESS URGE RENO TO PUNISH DOCTORS WHO AID IN DEATH PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Fifty-three members of Congress, including House Speaker Newt Gingrich, have written Attorney General Janet Reno to urge that Oregon doctors who assist in their patients' suicide face possible revokation of their license to prescribe drugs. According to a tally by The Oregonian, at least 138 members of Congress have urged Reno to uphold the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's position that prescribing a lethal dose of drugs violates federal regulations. Reno has said she is continuing to study the issue. If she agrees with DEA administrator Thomas Constantine that Oregon doctors who assist in suicide could be subject to sanctions, it could effectively block application of the nation's only assisted-suicide law. The issue has gained a higher profile in Congress since it was disclosed that at least two terminally ill patients had killed themselves under the law. The letter sent to Reno Thursday also was signed by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., who chair the Senate and House judiciary committees. The letters that have been written to Reno also show strong support for legislation that would block Oregon's law. Hyde said he would consider drafting legislation if Reno decides the DEA position is wrong. "I wouldn't say anything definite," he said, "but I'm interested in it." ------------------------------------------ ASSOCIATED PRESS (April 3/98; 3:24 am EST) OREGON MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS WRAP UP NETHERLANDS TOUR PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- A group of Oregon medical professionals that visited the Netherlands to study ways to improve the state's physician-assisted suicide system said better monitoring of the deaths is needed. The seven-person delegation wrapped up its trip on Thursday. In a telephone interview from the Netherlands, Dr. Bonnie Reagan spoke on behalf of the delegation. "We're wondering if there is a way to obtain more definitive information from people," said Reagan, a family practice doctor in Portland. "I don't think the public needs to know the details of the cases. That's patient confidentiality. What the public needs to know is the process." The delegation's trip coincided with the revelation that two terminally-ill people have committed suicide under Oregon's law, the first of its kind in the nation. The Oregon law requires doctors to report to the Oregon Health Division such information as whether the patient was found to be mentally sound. But Reagan said other information, such as how it was determined the patient had less than six months to live or whether the patient had hospice care, would be useful. Some people argue that hospice care could lessen the desire for assisted suicide by providing emotional and spiritual comfort to the dying. Oregon law requires only that doctors inform the patient that hospice care is available. The group included five members of a task force called Care of Terminally Ill Oregonians. The group, neutral on the issue of assisted suicide, published a handbook to be used to help health care professionals maneuver their way through the law. Assisted suicide and euthanasia are illegal in the Netherlands. But doctors have helped ailing patients kill themselves or have given lethal injections since 1973 and generally are not prosecuted. Dutch authorities told the Oregon group that in 1995 an estimated 4,500 people died by euthanasia and another 500 died using assisted suicide, accounting for 3.7 percent of all deaths that year in the country. Dutch officials focus on how to get the most complete information about each case of euthanasia and assisted suicide. The Dutch require doctors to report certain details, but officials also send a survey to families and physicians, allowing them to describe their experiences anonymously. The Oregon group, most of whom paid their own way for the trip, met with officials of the Royal Dutch Medical Association, the Royal Society of Pharmacy, the ministries of Health and Justice, the Free University and people from advocacy and opposition groups. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=9400