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Article: Many Oregon Doctors Unwilling to Help Terminally Ill Patients Die
- Article from:
- Yakima Herald-Republic
- Article date:
- March 7, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1999 Yakima Herald-Republic. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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SALEM, Ore. - Terminally ill patients in Oregon who want to use
the nation's only assisted-suicide law are running into a little-
known roadblock: Many doctors are unwilling to prescribe the deadly
dose of drugs.
"I haven't been trained to kill people," said Portland cancer
specialist Dr. Jana Reddoch. "I've been trained to help them live as
long as possible." Six out of the 15 terminally ill people who used
the law to end their lives last year were turned down by at least
one doctor.
And by the state's own informal sampling, 67 percent of doctors
who treat terminally ill patients said they would refuse to
participate in an assisted suicide.
"We cannot be advocates of the patient's health ...