ACP calls for veto of California’s physician-assisted suicide bill

On behalf of ACP President Wayne J. Riley, MD, MPH, MBA, MACP, the ACP has issued a letter to California Governor Jerry Brown to request a veto of the End of Life Option Act.

The Act (ABX2-15), which was approved by the California senate in June, would allow a patient’s physician to prescribe a drug that would end the patient’s life.

Wayne J. Riley

“ACP does not support the legalization of physician-assisted suicide and does not support [physician-assisted suicide] as an appropriate action. … We are deeply sympathetic to the concerns and fears patients and their families have at the end of life. Hower, [physician-assisted suicide] is not the answer and in fact, ACP sees it as abandonment of the dying patient. It is not the role of the physician to give individuals control over the cause and timing of death — the medicalization of suicide,” Riley wrote.

The letter states that physician-assisted suicide undermines both the relationship between a patient and provider, as well as the general practice of medicine, since it implies that physicians are only able to provide comfort to certain patients. Riley insists that physicians often provide dying patients with comfort, without assisting them in suicide.

Riley said that as per the ACP’s Ethics Manual, physicians can, and should be focused on alleviating pain and other symptoms among dying patients, even if the provided treatments may shorten the patient’s life. Moreover, physicians should be offering dying patients support if they choose to refuse treatment, including life-saving treatment.

Rather than legalizing physician-assisted suicide, Riley urged expanded and greater access to palliative care and hospice services. He cited data that indicate a large proportion of individuals had never heard of palliative care, but that once the services were explained to them, the majority reported that they would want it if they were to become severely ill.

Additionally, Riley noted that ACP was troubled by certain areas allowing coverage of physician-assisted suicide, but no coverage or difficult access to palliative and hospice care.

“We hope you will join ACP in advocating that society should encourage those who seek suicide with a physician’s help to instead be provided with full access to the care and compassion that can alleviate their suffering. No Californian, or any other American, should have to fear an undignified or pain-filled life or death,” he wrote.