Press Advisory
True Compassion Advocates
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
One Year Anniversary Protest
March 5th, 2010
Compassion advocates gather at UW Medical Center
to protest one-year anniversary of legalized assisted suicide
Over 70 compassion advocates gathered outside of UW Medical Center in Seattle on March 5th to demonstrate on the one-year anniversary of Washington State's implementation of the assisted suicide. Seniors, members of the disability community, nurses, doctors, lawyers, parents with children, and young men and women assembled to demonstrate their support for those at risk from Washington's Death with Dignity Act.
Lining the streets of one of Seattle's busiest intersections, in front of one of the few Seattle-area hospitals which opted-into involvement in assisted suicide, protestors held signs reading, "The Death With Dignity Act is a recipe for elder abuse," "U: We want compassionate care, not assisted suicide," and "Support people with disabilities. No assisted suicide."
President of True Compassion Advocates and long-time Hospice nurse Eileen Geller, RN, BSN, stated that "We're here to show support for quality, compassionate care for seniors, people with disabilities, and those with chronic or serious medical conditions who are put at risk by the Death with Dignity Act.' ""The official DOH numbers from the first 10 months of legalized assisted suicide in Washington confirm the risks from the Act to elders and people with disabilities." She continued, "The Act 'duty to die' mentality fostered by legalized assisted suicide or to a system which leaves them open to abuse or coercion."
Because reporting "requirements" are so flimsy, it is uncertain exactly how many pWeople have died under the DWDA. The law states: "To comply with the act, within thirty calendar days of writing a prescription for medication under this act, the attending physician shall send the following completed, signed, and dated forms. Yet, from the DOH data it's clear 2 Doctors broke the law by not submitting the attending physician compliance form and consulting physician compliance form. The Pharmacy Dispensing Record Form identifies the prescribing physician. What actions have been or will be taken with regard to the two Drs. who broke the law?
Elder and disability abuse in Washington State is on the rise. The DWDA is recipe for such abuse. In 2007, there were a total of 42,000 reports of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation of vulnerable adults. Nationally, statistics show that only one of six cases of abuse is actually reported. The DWDA does not enact any protections against abuse. Furthermore, by defining assisted suicide as not being abuse and neglect, and by having no requirements for prevention, assessment, and reporting of abuse, the act lessons current laws meant to protect vulnerable adults from abuse. Also, the DOH has not made it clear to health care professionals and institutions that they need to rule out elder abuse and exploitation and assess for competence before implementing the DWDA.
Under DWDA, consent is not required at the time of death. Also, no impartial witness is required to be present at the time of death. So, a patient can request lethal medications many months in advance of taking them and no protections exist to prevention coercion at the time of the "assisted suicide." Furthermore, the report shows in most cases
The six month diagnosis for terminal illness is notoriously inaccurate. According to DOH statistics, at least one patient died 10 months (43 weeks) after their first oral request for the lethal dose of drugs. At some Washington hospices, where the 6 month terminal diagnosis is also a 'requirement,' at least one in 5 patients is discharged because they no longer meet criteria for being terminally ill. Under DWDA, this means it is possible that as many as seven patients may not have met terminal criteria but committed assisted suicide under the Act. "The Washington Death with Dignity Act, Initiative 1000, codified as RCW 70.245, passed on November 4, 2008. This act allows terminally ill adults seeking to end their life to request lethal doses of medication from medical and osteopathic physicians. These terminally ill patients must be Washington residents who have less than six months to live."
Only 7%, or 3 patients, was referred for psychiatric evaluation-despite the fact that the primary reason people attempt and die from suicide is underlying depression. There is no substantiated basis on which to presume that depression is not likewise a very significant factor among patients seeking assisted suicide after learning of a poor prognosis and short life expectancy. Yet, inexplicably, there is no requirement that a patient be evaluated by a psychiatrist or psychologist to rule out depression or other psychiatric disorder which might readily respond to treatment which in turn may lead to resolution of the thoughts and plans of suicide. Under the Act, referral for such an evaluation is left entirely up to the "attending physician" and "consulting physician", neither of whom may have any experience whatsoever in identifying and treating depression, anxiety, or other distressing and potentially contributory disorders. (Physicians for Compassionate Care of Washington press release.)
The fourth most commonly cited concern was losing control of bodily functions (41%) Thus, acquired or fear of acquiring in the future a disability of one sort or another (loss of control or loss of functional ability) was the most prominent overriding factor driving these patients to assisted suicide. (PCC o fWA)
Additionally, about a quarter of patients had concerns that they were a burdenon family, friends, or caregivers and the same percentage had concerns about inadequate pain control or actual inadequate pain control (unspecified.) (PCC of WA.)
The median duration of patient-physician relationship was not included in the information released by DOH but it was as little as 3 weeks in one case and no more than 6 months in over half of the cases. This may be a consequence of the fact that most physicians believe in and honor their Hippocratic Oath which precludes assisting in a patient's suicide. It is the long-standing position of the Washington State Medical Association, the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians-American Board of Internal Medicine and other major physicians' associations to oppose physician-assisted suicide. Washington physicians may also be offended by the Act's unusual requirement that the overdose-writing physician falsify the death certificate and list the cause of death as natural, even while simultaneously reporting to DOH that it occurred due to lethal overdose. (PCC of WA.)
True Compassion Advocates is a Washington State non-profit organization that offers education, resources, and support during aging, illness, and disability. Its goal is to promote alternatives to assisted suicide and foster compassionate communities of care. www.truecompassionadvocates.org
For more information contact Eileen Geller at 206.366.2715 or Eileen@truecompassionadvocates.org