Death with Dignity

In Oregon

 

The state of Oregon enacted the Death with Dignity Act on Oct. 27, 1997. Since then, six states and the District of Columbia have followed in Oregon's footsteps and enacted similar laws.

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Oregon is required to report information each year on the number of people prescribed the aid in dying drug, and the number of deaths that occur from the medication or other underlying illnesses.

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The annual reports released from 1998 to 2017 show that a total of 1,967 patients have been prescribed the medication, and 1,275 patients have ingested the drug. That number does not reflect every individual, as the ingestion status of some of the patients is unknown.

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In 2017 alone, 218 patients were written prescriptions for the drug. Out of those 218 individuals, 130 ingested the medication, 44 did not ingest the medication and the status of ingestion of the remaining individuals is unknown.

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The graphic to the left shows a breakdown of the number prescriptions written for individuals under Oregon's Death With Dignity Act versus the number of deaths that occurred from the medication.

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