Nearly 400 people used California assisted death law in 2017

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California health officials reported Friday that 374 terminally ill people took drugs to end their lives in 2017, the first full year after a law made the option legal.

The California Department of Public Health said 577 people received aid-in-dying drugs last year, but not everyone used them. The law allows adults to obtain a prescription for life-ending drugs if a doctor has determined they have six months or less to live. They can self-administer the drugs.

Of the 374 who died, about 90 percent were more than 60 years old, about 95 percent were insured and about 83 percent were receiving hospice or similar care. The median age was 74.​

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

Critics argue the law can prompt hasty decisions and misdiagnoses and less use of palliative care, in which dying people can be sedated to relieve suffering. Supporters say it gives people the choice to ease what otherwise might be a lingering and painful death.

"No evidence of abuse, coercion, none of those claims have come to fruition. We're happy to see that," said Ashley Cardenas, policy and programs director for the advocacy organization Compassion & Choices.​

I think this is perhaps the best indicator for those who may have had initial misgivings about the new law.

 

[EvilCat Breath]

Of course there is no evidence of abuse or coercion. The only ones who would complain are dead.

 

[yiostheoy]

I suppose if you are incapacitated and/or have no hope of recovery, then an early self-chosen death makes sense.

Also allows you to donate all your organs to save other people's lives too.

 

[DOTR]

Living in California has that effect.