The Associated Press reported:
Assisted suicide research criticized: professor replies
By William McCall, The Associated Press, October 1, 2007
PORTLAND – Doctor-assisted suicide in Oregon and The Netherlands does not result in more deaths among certain groups of terminally ill patients such as the poor or senior citizens, according to a controversial new study.
The study, led by University of Utah bioethicist Margaret Battin, analyzed nearly a decade of data from Oregon – the only state with an assisted suicide law – and 20 years in The Netherlands.
The results contradict claims by opponents that allowing doctors to help terminally ill patients end their lives would result in a higher number of deaths among certain groups.
Critics, however, dismissed the study because Battin failed to disclose she is a member of the advisory board of the Death With Dignity National Center in Portland.
The nonprofit defends the Oregon law and coordinates support for legalizing assisted suicide in other states.
“This is a study that, at best, can be referred to as propaganda,” wrote Alex Schadenberg, head of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, on the www.lifenews.com Web site.
The study, to be published in the October issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics, looked at 10 groups identified as vulnerable. They included senior citizens, the poor, women, minorities, the uninsured, children, the chronically ill, the less educated, AIDS patients and psychiatric patients.
Researchers found that in both Oregon and The Netherlands, the average age of patients who died with a doctor’s assistance was 70 years old. Eighty percent of the patients suffered from cancer.
Only AIDS patients appeared to request assisted suicide at higher rates than the general population, according to researchers.
This higher rate among AIDS patients, however, was for homosexual men in The Netherlands from 1985 to 1995, before more effective drugs became available to control the disease, the study said.
While Battin admitted she should have disclosed her board role, she pointed out that her views on assisted suicide are well-known from her books, articles and public appearances.
She defended the study saying it draws only on the numbers and demographic data supplied by the state of Oregon and studies in The Netherlands. Three doctors and a public health researcher were co-authors, she said.
“All the of the data involved are publicly available,” Battin said.
“It’s not as if we hid cases or misinterpreted data. This is data anybody can inspect.”
Peg Sandeen, executive director of the Death With Dignity center, defended Battin, saying she has a minimal role on the advisory board.
Besides criticizing Battin for not disclosing her background, Schadenberg said the study itself is flawed because it did not take into account that the Oregon data relied on reports by doctors who write prescriptions at the request of their patients for a fatal overdose.
“It is unlikely that a person prescribing assisted suicide would self-report information that may be considered outside the law,” Schadenberg said.
Oregon voters approved the assisted suicide law in 1994 and 1997, one that is designed to ensure that only patients who want the option of physician assistance are considered and there is not pressure from outside sources, says Kathryn Tucker, legal affairs director of Compassion and Choices.
Terminally ill patients must be assessed by at least two doctors who must agree the patient is mentally qualified to make the request and is not suffering from depression.
The patient must also administer the lethal dose to himself or herself.
Federal courts repeatedly rejected legal claims by opponents that assisted suicide would lead to higher death rates. In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it was up to the states to regulate medical practice, including assisted suicide.
“The bottom line is that all the data was carefully reviewed from the implementation of the Oregon Death With Dignity Act and researchers found no evidence of heightened risk for vulnerable populations,” Tucker said.
“The laboratory of Oregon has worked exactly as the federal court system hoped it would.”
Assisted suicide is still opposed by a number of major groups, including the American Medical Association and the Roman Catholic Church.
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ASSISTED SUICIDE STUDY
Assisted suicide does not result in more deaths among certain terminally ill patients, according to a study published in the October issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics.
The study analyzed nearly a decade of data from Oregon and 20 years of information from The Netherlands. Critics claim the study is flawed.
Some of the findings:
• In both Oregon and The Netherlands, the average age of patients who died with a doctor’s assistance was 70 years old. Eighty percent of these patients suffered from cancer.
• Only AIDS patients appeared to request assisted suicide at higher rates than the general population.
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