Physician-Assisted Suicide and Criminal Prosecution: Are Physicians at Risk?

Abstract

The legalization of physician-assisted suicide (PAS) remains a hotly debated issue throughout the United States, and continues to capture the attention of government officials at both the state and federal levels. While the practice is currently legal in Oregon, some federal lawmakers and officials from the U.S. Department of Justice have attempted to outlaw that state's practice through legislation (e.g., the Pain Relief Promotion Act of 1999), or through a strained interpretation of the federal Controlled Substances Act. And while several citizen groups throughout the United States have attempted but failed to legalize PAS through popular initiative, several state lawmakers have succeeded in specifically outlawing the practice. Yet even though physician-assisted suicide (PAS) remains unlawful in every state except Oregon, there is ample evidence that American physicians throughout the United States have participated in PAS by providing their terminally ill patients with lethal prescriptions.