Psychiatric News (8/4) reports, “Between 1998 and 2018, medical aid in dying…under Oregon state’s Death With Dignity Act was the most common form (52.7%) of self-initiated death among women over 65,” whereas “firearm suicides were the most common form (65.7%) of self-initiated death among men in the state, followed by deaths caused by lethal medication under the Death With Dignity Act.” Investigators arrived at these conclusions after analyzing “data from the Public Health Division of the Oregon Health Authority on deaths attributed to the Death With Dignity Act and from the CDC on unassisted suicide by sex and age for the 1998−2018 period.” The findings were published online June 11 ahead of print in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
Related Links:
— “Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act Impacts Older Women, Men Differently, Study Suggests, Psychiatric News, August 4, 2021