Published 10 November 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a2480
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2480

News

Washington follows Oregon to legalise physician assisted suicide

¹ BMJ

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The US state of Washington has become the second US state to legalise physician assisted suicide, 11 years after Oregon, its neighbour to the south.

Initiative 1000, modelled on Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, was passed on 4 November by a majority of 59% to 41%. It will allow doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of drugs for mentally competent patients with less than six months to live.

Patients will have to be residents of the state and will have to go through a 15 day waiting period after asking for the lethal dose. They will then have to make the request again, orally and in writing. If the doctor thinks depression might be clouding the patient’s judgment, the patient must be referred to a mental health professional.

Two doctors must approve the request, and the drugs will have to be administered by the patient not the doctor.

Since Oregon’s . . . [Full text of this article]

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