Harborview, UW To Participate In Death With Dignity Program

The voter-approved Death With Dignity act, known as Initiative 1000 in November 's election, means that hospitals now have to figure out how to implement the new law--or if they want to offer the option at all. So far, Harborview and the UW Medical Center are the two major hospitals in Seattle who have decided to participate, meaning their physicians would provide the life-ending medication and would be present during the dose administration. It looks like many of the state's hospices will not be formally participating, but would still work with patients and their families who could obtain the prescription elsewhere before and after the act itself.

The law drew up strong but mixed emotions in many state voters. Apart from ethical and moral considerations, some critics of the act argued that the law as written did not contain enough protection for the sick and elderly who are vulnerable to caretaker power abuse. Now, it's up to hospital policy to decide how to prevent that abuse as thoroughly as possible. This includes making decisions on questions about the conditions under which patients could take the life-ending medication, which if any mental health tests the patient would need to undergo before taking the medication, and how to handle the delicate balance between participating as a hospital but still allowing individual doctors to opt out of writing such prescriptions.

The Death With Dignity law is an overarching, grand decision about the state's general attitude towards assisted suicide, but specific hospital policy will determine how that attitude is translated to real life and death. We don't envy the policy-makers in this situation.