By Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director – Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Last week Iowa’s largest newspaper, The Des Moines Register, published an in-depth examination of the practice of assisted suicide in Oregon and Washington State and uncovered significant problems.

In their account, Kyle Munson and Jason Clayworth write about data that is incomplete, missing reports (under-reporting), and that the laws are not designed to be effectively monitored.

They also found that the assisted suicide lobby in Iowa wants to extend assisted suicide laws to permit euthanasia by lethal injection.

Munson, a Des Moines Register columnist, and Clayworth, an investigative reporter, examine the practice of assisted suicide in America by analyzing the data and by interviewing leaders from both sides of the assisted suicide debate. Their report, “Suicide with a helping hand worries Iowans on both sides of ‘right to die,’” was published on November 25.

Their story begins with Betsy Davis, who died by assisted suicide in California. Davis, 41, received assistance in administering the lethal dose in a manner that brings into question the meaning of “self-administer.”

According to the story:

So when it came time to end her life under a new California law for the terminally ill, her caregivers propped her up and held the cup as she drank a fatal mix of prescription drugs.

But physical assistance in taking the toxic medications is illegal, multiple experts contend. The report then examines the meaning of “self-administer.”

Kelly and Okray, Betsy’s caregiver, were left with a lingering question: Is there an easier way to do this?

Kelly said she also was troubled by the legal gray area: Had they violated the “self-administer” clause of California’s law?

The law defines “self-administer” as the “physical act of administering and ingesting the aid-in-dying drug to bring about his or her own death.”

“That doesn’t mean they couldn’t hold a cup that a person is drinking out of,” said Matt Whitaker, state director in California of the organization, which supports assisted-suicide laws. “That would be fine.”

Jennifer Holm, who lobbies for assisted suicide in Iowa, told the Register that concerns with the definition of “self-administer” would be solved by legalizing euthanasia by lethal injection. According to the report:

Holm has been one of Iowa’s most outspoken advocates for assisted suicide. She says the data tell her that doctors should be allowed not only to prescribe the lethal drugs but to administer them as well, to help avoid complications.

The story not only uncovers problems with the definition of “self-administer, ” it also uncovers problems with the practice of assisted suicide laws.

“Assisted suicide is nearly untraceable. There is minimal reporting and tracking,” said Marilyn Golden, a senior policy analyst for the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund in California. “It almost appears as if the practice of assisted suicide has deliberately been made secretive, all with the claim of patient confidentiality.”

Among the 1,642 documented assisted suicides in Oregon and Washington since the states began reporting statistics in 1998 and 2009, respectively, the Register found:

· COMPLICATIONS: At least 38 people (about 2.5 percent) experienced complications as they were dying, including regurgitation of the fatal medicine, seizures or waking up after taking the medication.

· INCOMPLETE RECORDS: At least 478 deaths occurred without record of key details, such as whether complications occurred. At least 203 people have died without a record of whether the deaths were from ingesting medication or from natural causes.

· PROLONGED DEATHS: In 2009, a person in Oregon took more than four days to die after taking the medication. Of the two states, Washington had the most complete data. For deaths where time was recorded, 17 percent took 91 or more minutes. In Oregon, the median time before death in 2015 was 25 minutes.

· NO DATA: Two of the states where assisted suicide is an option — Vermont and Montana — do not track deaths at all. Data from California and Colorado, the most recent states to legalize assisted suicide, is not yet available.

The Des Moines Register uncovered abuses and problems with assisted suicide in Oregon and Washington State similar to those reported by the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.

Editor’s note. This appeared on Mr. Schadenberg’s blog.