Colorado recently became the sixth US state to adopt the life-ending law.
According to the official channels, Colorado recently became the sixth US state to adopt the life-ending law. This measure adopted by Colorado will allow patients with terminal illnesses to obtain life-ending drugs and administer them themselves without supervision.
The new ballot measure came into force after 65 percent of Colorado citizens voted in favor. According to this new directive, terminally ill adult patients who have less than six months to leave may opt to obtain prescription drugs from their attending physician and administer them themselves.
With the new law passed, physicians and pharmacist that dispense prescription drugs for a patient who wishes to self-medicate will not be prosecuted.
The new ballot measure dictates that in order to self-medicate, a patient must first make two oral requests to their physicians. These requests must be at least fifteen days apart. In addition to the oral request, the patient must also make a written request in which he must motive his reason for asking to self-medicate.
After the requests are made, two doctors will consult the patient the patient to ascertain his state of mind. The two physicians must make certain that the patient is of sound mind and that he is not coerced by someone to take this course of action.
The other five states which have ratified the life-ending law are Montana, Oregon, California, Washington, and Vermont. California was the last state to adopt the life-ending law back in 2015.
Moreover, the first US state to adopt this life-ending measure is Oregon which ratified the law back in 1997. John Daley, a reporter, working for the Colorado Public Radio, has confirmed that Colorado’s life-ending law for terminally ill patients will be modeled after Oregon’s measures.
According to the official statistics, it would seem that the number of requests for life-ending procedures has significantly increased over the past three years. Moreover, the data collected from the state of Oregon since the law has passed reveals what happens after the patient requests life-ending medication.
The numbers say that more than one-third of patients who have formally requested the procedure do not take the medication, letting the disease run its natural course.
With the recent ratification of Colorado’s life-ending law, both doctors and lawmakers will have their work cut for them and, as always, doctors will have the tough choice of establishing whether a not a patient will be able to carry out the deed.
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