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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Oregon Has First Assisted Suicide Cancer Patient Swallows Lethal Dose Of Drugs Legally Prescribed By Doctor

Associated Press

An elderly woman who battled breast cancer for 20 years has become the first known person to die under the nation’s only doctor-assisted suicide law, an advocacy group said Wednesday.

The woman in her mid-80s, whose name was withheld by her family, died Tuesday night about 30 minutes after taking a lethal dose of barbiturates mixed with syrup, and washed down with a glass of brandy.

“I’m looking forward to it. I will be relieved of all the stress I have,” the woman said in a brief audiotape made two days before her death.

She said had been given less than two months to live and could no longer enjoy her beloved pastimes, such as gardening in her back yard.

“I’ve always been able to get around and do things. Suddenly I’m in a position I can’t walk very good and I’m having trouble breathing,” she said. “I can’t see myself living a few more months like this.”

Surrounded by family members and her physician in her Portland home, she fell into a deep sleep five minutes after taking the concoction.

“She swallowed the medication and died a half hour later, very peacefully,” said Barbara Coombs Lee, the head of the group and author of the law.

Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, first passed by voters in 1994 and affirmed last year, allows doctors to prescribe lethal drugs at the request of terminally ill patients who have less than six months to live. Doctors may only prescribe a lethal dose, not administer it.

In the five months since the last court fight ended and the measure took effect, there have been no other cases of someone coming forward to take advantage of the law and make a public point about the right to die.

Even supporters of the measure say they have had numerous inquiries from patients, but this is the first case they know of where a person has used the law.

“For the first time to our knowledge, a terminally ill patient has ingested a lethal dose of medication and died as a result,” Coombs Lee said.

State officials, citing privacy laws, would not confirm whether there has been another case. They say they will release a preliminary report as soon as they have recorded 10 suicides.

Oregon’s chief epidemiologist, David Fleming, said he had no previous word about the elderly woman’s suicide plans.

In the campaign last fall over the measure, opponents suggested that the state would become a magnet for people who wanted medical assistance to die.

Though that groundswell has not materialized, opponents were saddened by news of the first state-sanctioned suicide.

“This is a tragic and sad day for Oregon and the United States,” said Bob Castagna, a spokesman for the Oregon Catholic Conference. “Assisted suicide has begun in the state of Oregon to our profound regret and sorrow.”

The law has been the focus of national debate since the first campaign in 1994 when voters passed it by a narrow margin, and in 1997 when it was put back on the ballot by the Legislature and overwhelmingly passed again.