Ruling under appeal on Oregon physician-assisted suicide

Assisted suicides may continue during the court process.

By Andis Robeznieks, AMNews staff. June 17, 2002.

The U.S. Dept. of Justice has filed the preliminary paperwork to appeal a district judge's decision that allowed physician-assisted suicides to continue in Oregon.

The department repeated claims that assisted suicide is not a legitimate medical activity and that federal authority trumps a state's rights when it comes to regulating drugs. Justice officials cited a 1984 amendment to the Controlled Substance Act, which lets federal authorities take action against doctors who endanger health even when their actions are allowed by state law.

In addition to legal arguments, the department issued a fact sheet containing moral reasons to oppose assisted suicide, including the AMA's position that assisting a suicide is "fundamentally incompatible with the physician's role as a healer."

"A just and compassionate civilization can be measured by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens," the fact sheet states.

"Terminally ill patients are among the most vulnerable members of our society."

In November, Attorney General John Ashcroft overturned the Death With Dignity law by declaring that doctors who write lethal prescriptions would lose their license to prescribe controlled substances. The state fought this decision, and U.S. District Judge Robert Jones ruled in its favor April 17. The case now goes to the Appellate Court in San Francisco. [...]