FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT for Oregon Death with Dignity and the Plaintiffs: 

Greg Eddleston (503) 228.6079

Portland, OR --- Oregon Death with Dignity, the only organization to successfully pass and defend a death with dignity law in any political, legislative or judicial arena, today filed a law suit seeking to enjoin U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft’s decision to prosecute physicians and pharmacists who practice under Oregon’s Death with Dignity law.

“Ashcroft’s ruling is so much political garbage parading as legal analysis,” said Attorney Eli Stutsman from the federal courthouse in Portland as he prepared to file suit.  Stutsman was the lead attorney in drafting Oregon’s law and the principal strategist behind the two campaigns that passed it.  He successfully defended Oregon’s law in the federal court system between 1994 and 1997.

“While it is true that the Ashcroft decision will negatively impact patients, physicians and pharmacists licensed under the DEA are the direct targets,” Stutsman explained as he spoke about the two plaintiffs in the case, Dr. Peter Rasmussen and David Malcom Hochhalter, a pharmacist. Both live in Salem.

Dr. Rasmussen is an oncologist and Board Certified palliative care specialist who has practiced in Oregon for more than 20 years.  Since passage of the Death with Dignity Act, Rasmussen has received numerous requests and has written prescriptions under the law’s guidelines.  Rasmussen believes that patients must exercise their autonomy in matters of their own care. 

“The Oregon law has worked flawlessly for four years and end-of-life care continues to improve for all patients since passage of the law.   I join this suit today not just as a physician in Oregon concerned about his patients, but as a physician concerned about federal intrusion into the doctor patient relationship.  The practice of medicine cannot and should not be determined by federal law enforcement official,” said Dr. Rasmussen.

Mr. Hochhalter is a Salem pharmacist.  As a licensed Oregon pharmacist and DEA registrant, Mr. Hochhalter dispenses prescriptions under the Oregon law.

Mr. Hochhalter explained, “The mere threat of investigation from the DEA will send chills down the spines of pharmacists all across the country.  Even if a pharmacist complies 100% with the law, the threat of a suit requires a lawyer and mounting legal fees, and that threat will force pharmacists to re-think their dispensing practices.”

Mark Trinchero, attorney and board member of Oregon Death with Dignity commented, “Oregon Death with Dignity drafted this law, we passed this law, we successfully defended this law in the federal courts.  We are the only organization that maintains lobbyists in both Salem and Washington, DC and the only organization prepared to challenge policymakers who would take away the right of terminally ill Oregonians.  We will prevail once again in this court battle.”

The Death with Dignity Case

Under a new interpretation of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the federal government threatens license revocation and criminal enforcement against DEA registrants (physicians/pharmacists).  Oregon Death with Dignity’s case argues that this new interpretation:

Violates the Tenth Amendment which reserves certain rights to the states

• Exceeds the enumerated powers of Congress
• Violates the Fifth Amendment as it subjects plaintiffs to denial or revocation of DEA registration

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