Posted on 03/04/2005 12:28:13 PM PST by aculeus
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A terminally ill cancer patient who tried to end his life with drugs prescribed under Oregon's assisted-suicide law awoke three days later, alert and talkative, his wife said.
David Prueitt, who had lung cancer, took what was believed to be a fatal dose of a barbiturate prescribed by his doctor in January. He fell into a coma within minutes, but woke up three days later, said his wife Lynda Romig Prueitt.
Prueitt's wife told The Oregonian newspaper that he asked, "Why am I not dead?"
Prueitt, 42, lived for two more weeks before dying of natural causes at his Estacada home, about 35 miles southeast of Portland.
The state Department of Human Services will turn the case over to the Board of Medical Examiners or state Board of Pharmacy to determine if the procedure or drugs were faulty, said Dr. Katrina Hedberg, assistant state epidemiologist.
Complications with doctor-assisted suicides are rare. In 2001, a patient took 37 hours to die after ingesting a lethal dose, and in 2003, a patient took 48 hours to die. Neither regained consciousness.
Since the law took effect in 1997, more than 170 people in Oregon have used it to end their lives. The law is meant for only extremely sick people - those with incurable diseases who two doctors agree have six months or less to live and are of sound mind.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that states have the right to decide whether to allow doctor-assisted suicides, but it announced last month it will review the law again following an appeal by the Bush administration.
AP-ES-03-04-05 1506EST
What we need is a double-blind test for the efficacy of suicide pills.
First case of malpractice coming up where the patient was supposed to die and didn't.
Now he can get rich by suing the incompetent doctor for malpractice.
twelve seconds!
Problem: he is dead.
John Edwards assures me that this will not hamper the lawsuit in anyway.
It would be interesting to hear what the man had to say when he woke up.
Actually, I believe it is quite common for doctors to put patients on a morphine drip to suppress their breathing and speed dieing. I've seen it done in both cancer and stroke victims and was told by the doctor that was the purpose.
Another Wrongful Life suit.
ROTFLMAO!
So what was the problem with merely waiting 17 days for the guy to die naturally? Why does the doctor stain himself with an attempted murder and total violation of his Hippocratic oath?
Patients surviving, we can't have that. I'm surprised they didn't do what they do to babies that survive abortions.
In the light of his superior intellect, I withdraw my objection.
When it comes to drugs and their administration, I'm not sure that anything is illegal in Oregon. For that matter, I'm not even sure oaths mean anything there either.
No-fault divorce pretty much put an end to oaths meaning anything, I guess... so I guess a doctor's oath or an elected official's oath or a judge's oath is pretty much garbage, too.
Would you want to lay helplessly in bed in a drugged up haze of pain for 17 more days until your body finished giving out on you?
A drawn out "natural" death is a miserable, pathetic experience for everyone involved. I wouldn't let a dog I didn't like suffer like that, let alone a person.
You mean not as assisted suicide but just as their treatment, to kill them?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.