The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has published a report including the number of individuals known to have taken their lives under California's end of life bill. The law requires the CDPH to provide annual reports about the effects of the law. 111 people have died after taking prescribed aid-in-dying drugs from June 9th, 2016 to December 31st, 2016 (subsequent reports will cover full calendar years):
The law — which allows terminally ill adults to obtain life-ending drugs from their doctors — took effect on June 9, 2016. Between then and the end of the year, 191 people received prescriptions under the act and 111 people died after taking prescribed aid-in-dying drugs, according to a report released Tuesday by the California Department of Public Health.
In that time period, a total of 258 people began the end-of-life process under the law, which requires patients to make two verbal requests to their doctors at least 15 days apart.
Previously: California Legislature Approves Bill Legalizing Physician-Assisted Suicide - UK Reject Similar Law
California to Permit Assisted Suicide Starting June 9th, Could Raise Smoking Age to 21
(Score: 2) by dry on Saturday July 01 2017, @05:42AM
In Canada, the people who took this to the Supreme Court (lost the first time, won the second time) were people who were incapable of committing suicide, paralyzed and similar. The law here is for Dr assisted suicide, so a Doctor actually applies the drugs.
The Supreme Court ruled that if your quality of life is the shits, you should be able to die. The government passed a law that said, if you're terminal, with a shitty quality of life, you should be able to die. It's going back to the Supreme Court as there are people with things like Lou Gerigs (sp?) disease that completely remove any quality of life without being particular terminal.