Deadly milestone: 5 years of assisted suicide

Oregon marks its fifth year as the only state in the nation to allow physician-assisted suicide. The number of people availing themselves of the law in 2002 doubled since 1998, the first year the law was in place.

Editorial. April 21, 2003.

Oregon marked a somber anniversary last month when officials released the fifth annual report on physician-assisted suicide under the state's Death with Dignity Act.

For those who believe, as the AMA does, that physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally inconsistent with a physician's professional role, the report is troubling.

While the number of actual suicides under the law remains relatively small -- 38 in 2002 -- that number is more than double the 16 suicides that occurred in 1998, the first year the law was in place.

Also troubling, as it has been in the past, is the report's findings on the reasons people contemplate physician-assisted suicide.

It would be easy -- and, many would say, understandable -- if intractable pain, a traditional rallying cry for assisted suicide, was at the forefront. Not so. It came in, as it typically does, very near the bottom of the list. Instead, the main reason has remained constant: loss of autonomy.

Joining it at the top of the list are concerns over decreasing ability to participate in the activities that make life enjoyable, losing control of bodily functions and becoming a burden on family, friends or caregivers.

This represents both a tragedy and a challenge for the medical profession and for society. A dignified and pain-free end of life -- without perverting medicine's mission -- is achievable. The medical profession needs to do its share, both clinically and in terms of advocacy, to ensure that dying patients are provided optimal treatment for these discomforts, physical or emotional.