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Assisted-suicide proponents fear effect of bill
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11-8-99 Washington. A bill that would effectively negate Oregon's 5-year-old assisted suicide law passed by a vote of 271-156 in the House of Representatives last month. Proponents of the Pain Relief Promotion Act of 1999 say it gives physicians more leeway in using controlled substances for "legitimate medical purposes" such as alleviating pain and discomfort. But the bill also subjects physicians to up to 20 years in prison for prescribing drugs "for the purpose of causing death." Opponents claim the bill places the federal government firmly in the middle of the physician-patient relationship and stymies the will of the residents of Oregon, who have twice approved physician-assisted suicide. "The bill makes a clear distinction between the aggressive use of pain medication that, as an unintended consequence, may hasten death and use of the same drugs to end a patient's life," said Thomas Reardon, MD, president of the American Medical Association and a resident of Portland. The AMA twice opposed Oregon's Death with Dignity Act. Reardon added that the bill gives no additional powers to the Drug Enforcement Administration, which oversees controlled substances. A similar bill is working its way through the Senate. In a statement, Rep. David Wu, D-Ore., called the bill an affront to states' rights. "Oregonians have spoken clearly on [assisted suicide]-twice. We in Oregon have decided that while it is always a painful decision, the way a terminally ill patient chooses to exit this world is a private decision, to be made by the patient, their family, and their doctor-not by politicians or bureaucrats." Wu said the Oregon delegation in Congress is "virtually united" on the issue.
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