Physician Assisted Suicide is the provision by a doctor of a prescription for a lethal combination of drugs that will allow you to end your life at the time of your choosing. In Oregon this is a perfectly legal practice and one that is considered by approximately 17% of people in Oregon who have the misfortune of having a terminal illnes. Ultimately 2% of these individuals formally request the prescription and 1% take advantage of it.

Oregon provides a legally sanctioned option that is illegal in most other places but it is still utilised elsewhere. In most places a person can obtain a satisfactory mixture of drugs to acheive the desired result. So would you recon that legalising the practice in Oregon has lead to a rush in suicides amongst the terminally ill in that state? Paradoxically it has had the reverse effect. PAS is lower in Oregon than in states where it is illegal. Legalising the practice means that various options that are available to the dying person can be explored frankly and openly. Many who consider PAS choose improved medication for pain and depression, others utilise palliative care. Additionally the researchers observe

Another explanation is that Oregon's Death With Dignity Act has significant hurdles and many patients simply can't make it over them.

So who uses PAS? The profile of a utiliser of this facility is younger, white, not very religious and battling cancer. Also those who are already in pallative care and have tried the other options are far more likely to take advantage of PAS.

Sadly many of you reading this will find yourself in the situation of knowing someone in this unfortunate position in the future. The challenge for you is to put aside your own values, beliefs and prejudices and support the person in ways that are meaningful to the person dying. These people are often too sick to fight for what they want for their final days and it is your responsibility to help them make choices that are meaningful and valid for them. It behoves any caring person to assist them in this task and not burden the dying person with their own grief and expectations.

Read more on this research here.