Communicating End-of-Life Decisions

Benefits of Death with Dignity Spotlighted in JAMA

July 3, 2002

News Release

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Contact: Greg Eddleston - geddleston@dwd.org / (503) 228.6079

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PORTLAND, OR � A report in today�s Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA, Volume 287, Number 25) vividly demonstrates the positive impact that the Oregon Death with Dignity law has had on end-of-life care.

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In the report, researchers at Oregon Health & Science University�s Center for Ethics in Healthcare, document the case of a local ALS patient who requested assistance from his physician under the Death with Dignity (DWD) law.� The physician, opposed to his patient�s choice, discontinued his care and referred the man to hospice.� Once in hospice, the man and his new physician, embarked upon an open exploration of healthcare options, discussing the trajectory of his illness and providing an honest assessment of future symptom management.� It was only after this dialogue � a dialogue that all patients in these circumstances should be afforded � that the man made a new decision.� He and his physician collaborated on a treatment plan and the man was able to end his days in a manner of his choosing.

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�We are glad that this man was able to get the care that he wanted.� The Death with Dignity law was designed as merely one choice along a continuum of end-of-life care options.� Like anything else, other people will reach different conclusions and make different healthcare decisions for themselves.� Physicians, who for their own reasons, choose not to assist a patient under the law, are free to make that choice too.� It�s the dialogue and the choice that are vital.� It�s for this that we continue to fight,� said Scott Blaine Swenson, Executive Director of the Oregon Death with Dignity Center.

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The Oregon Death with Dignity Center (ODWD) has been the vanguard for Oregon�s law and has successfully proposed, passed and defended the Death with Dignity law since 1994.

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The following individuals are available for comment.

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SCOTT BLAINE SWENSON (ODWD Executive Director) has been involved in the assisted dying issue since the 1997 U.S. Supreme Court cases and has been intimately involved in the strategies to prevent federal intrusion.

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ELI STUTSMAN (attorney / ODWD Board President) is the Portland attorney representing Dr. Peter Rasmussen and pharmacist David Hochhalter in the case against Attorney General John Ashcroft.� Stutsman is one of the principal authors of the Oregon Death with Dignity law and was the strategist behind the law�s 1994 and 1997 electoral victories.� Stutsman defended the law in federal court between 1994 and 1997 in cases that resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court allowing the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision to stand - thus permitting Oregon�s law to go into effect on October 27, 1997.� Stutsman has been instrumental in strategies to defend Oregon�s law throughout its implementation.

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DR. ALAN BATES (physician / Oregon Representative / ODWD Board Member) is a practicing physician and member of the Oregon House of Representatives.� Dr. Bates recently joined the board of the Oregon Death with Dignity Center.

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Please contact Greg Eddleston at the number or email address above to schedule interviews.�

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Visit us on the web: www.dwd.org.��

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