TY - JOUR
T1 - The Oregon Death with Dignity Act
T2 - Results of a literature review and naturalistic inquiry
AU - Drum, Charles E.
AU - White, Glen
AU - Taitano, Genia
AU - Horner-Johnson, Willi
N1 - Funding Information:
The contents of this article were developed with funding from the Department of Education, NIDRR grant numbers H133B040034 and H133B060018. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and the reader should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
PY - 2010/1
Y1 - 2010/1
N2 - The Death with Dignity (DWD) Act, a physician-assisted suicide statute, was initially adopted in Oregon In November, 1994 and became operational in 1998. The purpose of this study is to: 1) determine the nature and form of the empirical literature on the Oregon DWD Act; 2) describe the effects of the DWD Act on Oregonians with disabilities according to the empirical literature; and 3) present opinions held by a group of Oregonians with disabilities about the DWD Act and its effects. A literature review and focus group were conducted for this study. Thirteen empirical studies and 11 state annual DWD reports werw included in the literature review. Review of the empirical literatuer on DWD in Oregon reveals a number of potential concerns, including inadequate demographic profiling of DWD requesting patients, inadequate mental health evaluations, insufficient duration of physician-patient relationships, potential inaccuracy of the six month prognosis, and inadequate exploration of alternative treatment. These concerns suggest that the DWD reporting system may be inadequate and lack sufficient safeguards. The focus group revealed that there are multiple facets to the DWD issue. Within the disability community, there does not seem to be unequivocal support for one viewpoint over another.
AB - The Death with Dignity (DWD) Act, a physician-assisted suicide statute, was initially adopted in Oregon In November, 1994 and became operational in 1998. The purpose of this study is to: 1) determine the nature and form of the empirical literature on the Oregon DWD Act; 2) describe the effects of the DWD Act on Oregonians with disabilities according to the empirical literature; and 3) present opinions held by a group of Oregonians with disabilities about the DWD Act and its effects. A literature review and focus group were conducted for this study. Thirteen empirical studies and 11 state annual DWD reports werw included in the literature review. Review of the empirical literatuer on DWD in Oregon reveals a number of potential concerns, including inadequate demographic profiling of DWD requesting patients, inadequate mental health evaluations, insufficient duration of physician-patient relationships, potential inaccuracy of the six month prognosis, and inadequate exploration of alternative treatment. These concerns suggest that the DWD reporting system may be inadequate and lack sufficient safeguards. The focus group revealed that there are multiple facets to the DWD issue. Within the disability community, there does not seem to be unequivocal support for one viewpoint over another.
KW - Assisted suicide
KW - Death with dignity
KW - Disability
KW - Oregon
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U2 - 10.1016/j.dhjo.2009.10.001
DO - 10.1016/j.dhjo.2009.10.001
M3 - Review article
C2 - 21122764
AN - SCOPUS:72949102895
SN - 1936-6574
VL - 3
SP - 3
EP - 15
JO - Disability and Health Journal
JF - Disability and Health Journal
IS - 1
ER -