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District Judge Upholds Oregon Assisted-suicide Law and Halts Prosecution of Doctors

By Lindsay F. Wiley [Bio]

April 17, 2002 - In a ruling issued today, Federal District Judge Robert E. Jones halted an attempt by the U.S. Justice Department to nullify Oregon's law allowing physician-assisted suicide.

Judge Jones characterized the case as a "battle between the state of Oregon and the federal government over which government has the ultimate authority to decide what constitutes the legitimate practice of medicine, at least when schedule II substances regulated under the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. 801 et seq, are involved." A number of opioid pain medications are listed on Schedule II, including Oxycontin, which has been the subject of recent efforts by state and federal governments to limit potential for abuse.

On November 9, 2001, Ashcroft published a directive in the Federal Register announcing that assisting suicide is not a "legitimate medical purpose" and that prescribing, dispensing, or administering federally controlled substances to assist suicide violates the CSA. Ashcroft thus reversed the position of his predecessor, Attorney General Janet Reno, who had determined in June of 1998 that the federal government's pursuit of adverse actions against Oregon physicians who are in full compliance with state law would be beyond the purpose of the CSA.

The U.S. Congress had twice attempted to preempt Oregon's Death with Dignity Act, once in 1998 with the Lethal Drug Abuse and Prevention Act and again in 1999 with the Pain Relief Promotion Act of 1999. The second bill passed the House but failed to reach a vote in the Senate.

Oregon filed suit immediately after Ashcroft promulgated the directive. Judge Jones granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting the directive from going into effect shortly thereafter. Motions to intervene by two groups of terminally-ill patients and by certain health care professionals were granted. A number of groups, including the American Academy of Pain Management and the New York Physicians, filed amici curiae briefs.

The amici brief filed on behalf of the American Academy of Pain Management and other groups noted that "often it is medically impossible to dissociate intentionally ameliorating a dying patient's agony from intentionally shortening the time left to live." Similarly, the New York Physicians expressed concern about "the possible effects which federal second-guessing by medically unqualified law enforcement personnel may have nationwide in chilling physicians' willingness to administer proper pain treatment when such treatment may have the double effect of hastening patients' deaths."

In his final order, Judge Jones ruled that the federal government does not have authority under the Controlled Substances Act to prohibit doctors from dispensing drugs used to assist in suicide. He granted the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment and placed a permanent injunction enjoining the defendants from "enforcing applying, or otherwise giving any legal effect to the Ashcroft Directive." CNN reports that Department of Justice sources said they expected the department to appeal the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.