Oregon sees increase in lethal suicide prescriptions; many patients unaccounted for

CNA Staff, Apr 4, 2025 / 14:18 pm (CNA).

New data from Oregon’s public health authority shows that the number of prescriptions for lethal drugs under the state’s assisted suicide law increased by roughly 8% last year, with assisted suicide deaths accounting for nearly 1% of all deaths in Oregon in 2024.

The data from the Oregon Health Authority, which analyzes the year 2024, shows the number of reported assisted suicide deaths decreased slightly — 376 in 2024 versus 386 in 2023. Since 1998, a total of 3,243 people have died under the state’s assisted suicide regime. 

However, nearly a third of all patients who were prescribed lethal drugs last year in Oregon are unaccounted for, as their “ingestion status” is listed by the health authority as “unknown.”

According to the report, of the 607 patients for whom prescriptions were written during 2024, 333 (55%) died from ingesting the medication, with time from ingestion until death ranging from seven minutes to 26 hours, with a median time of 53 minutes.

An additional 96 (16%) did not take the medications and later died of other causes. Forty-three people with prescriptions written in previous years ingested medication during 2024. 

At the time of reporting, “ingestion status” was unknown for 178 patients (29%), the report continues. Of these, 91 patients have died, but follow-up information was not yet available. For the remaining 87 patients, both death and ingestion status are “not yet known.”

Oregon is one of several U.S. states to have legalized assisted suicide and was the first state in the nation to do so, in 1997. Oregon’s assisted suicide law was later upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2006. The number of recipients in Oregon remained low for the first decade and a half of the program, only exceeding 100 after 2010, before climbing sharply each year after 2013. 

Last year’s report, covering 2023, showed a more significant rise in assisted suicide prescriptions and deaths compared with 2022, with prescriptions up from 433 to 560 and known deaths up from 304 to 367.

In a Thursday statement, Lois Anderson, executive director of the pro-life group Oregon Right to Life, called the report evidence of a “devastating increase in lethal prescriptions for Oregon residents and people from other states.”

“Legal assisted suicide sends a harsh message that our state believes some lives — especially the elderly, disabled, and medically complex — are less worth living. Real dignity and compassion is shown in love, care, and support — not in offering death as a solution,” Anderson stated.

She noted that according to the report, only three patients were referred for psychological or psychiatric evaluation.

“No matter their age or condition, a patient’s request for suicide should always trigger a thorough mental health analysis,” Anderson continued. “Failure to provide this basic support for vulnerable patients is unconscionable.”

Assisted suicide is not the same as euthanasia, although the two phrases are often used interchangeably. Euthanasia necessarily involves a person other than the patient, such as a doctor, being directly responsible for ending the patient’s life. Despite being legal in some other countries, such as Canada, euthanaisa remains prohibited in the U.S. 

Assisted suicide, on the other hand, involves a doctor or other authorized health care professional making the means of suicide — usually a lethal dose of medication — available to the patient, who then kills him- or herself.

The Catholic Church teaches that euthanasia and assisted suicide are sinful because they violate human dignity and represent a rejection of God’s gift of life. 

In the face of aging, illness, and pain, the Church instead advocates for palliative care, which seeks to treat symptoms, manage pain, and improve the quality of life of people suffering from severe illnesses.

Beginning in 2022, Oregon stopped enforcing its residency requirement in response to a lawsuit from the assisted suicide and euthanasia advocacy group Compassion & Choices. The Oregon Legislature removed the residency requirement entirely the next year. In 2024, 4% of all assisted suicide drug recipents were known to live outside of Oregon. 

Oregon’s law has several outwardly protective provisions, including that the person seeking a lethal prescription must be 18 or older, capable of making and communicating his or her decision, and have a diagnosed terminal illness, with six months or fewer to live. There is also a 15-day waiting period, though patients are exempt from any waiting period that exceeds their life expectancy.

The state’s 2024 report says that most assisted suicide patients were age 65 years or older (83%) and white (92%). The most common diagnosis was cancer (57%), followed by neurological disease (15%) and heart disease (11%).

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/263181/oregon-sees-increase-in-lethal-suicide-prescriptions-many-patients-unaccounted-for