Compassion in Dying v. State of Wash., C94-119R.

• Citation: 850 F. Supp. 1454
• Decision Date: 03 May 1994
• Docket Number: No. C94-119R.,C94-119R.
• Parties: COMPASSION IN DYING, a Washington nonprofit corporation, Jane Roe, John Doe, James Poe, Harold Glucksberg, M.D., Abigail Halperin, M.D., Thomas A. Preston, M.D., and Peter Shalit, M.D., Ph.D., Plaintiffs, v. The STATE OF WASHINGTON and Christine Gregoire, Attorney General of Washington, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Washington

850 F. Supp. 1454

COMPASSION IN DYING, a Washington nonprofit corporation, Jane Roe, John Doe, James Poe, Harold Glucksberg, M.D., Abigail Halperin, M.D., Thomas A. Preston, M.D., and Peter Shalit, M.D., Ph.D., Plaintiffs, v. The STATE OF WASHINGTON and Christine Gregoire, Attorney General of Washington, Defendants.

No. C94-119R.

United States District Court, W.D. Washington, at Seattle.

May 3, 1994.

Kathryn L. Tucker, Perkins Coie, Seattle, WA, for plaintiffs.

William Lee Williams, Attorney General's Office, Health Div., Olympia, WA, for defendants.

Todd Maybrown, Allen & Hansen, Karen E. Boxx, Keller Rohrback, Seattle, WA, for amici.

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND DENYING DEFENDANTS' CROSS-MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

ROTHSTEIN, Chief Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

THIS COURT is asked to rule as a matter of first impression on the constitutionality of the State of Washington's criminal prohibition against physician-assisted suicide. Specifically, the plaintiffs assert that the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees adults who are mentally competent, terminally ill, and acting under no undue influence the right to voluntarily hasten their death by taking a lethal dose of physician-prescribed drugs. Plaintiffs accordingly challenge the constitutionality of RCW 9A.36.060, which makes it a felony to knowingly aid another person in committing suicide. Plaintiffs challenge the statute only insofar as it bans physician-assisted suicide by mentally competent, terminally ill adults who knowingly and voluntarily choose to hasten their death.

The plaintiffs seek both a declaratory judgment striking down the statute as unconstitutional and injunctive relief barring defendants State of Washington and the Washington Attorney General from enforcing the statute. Both plaintiffs and defendants now move for summary judgment.¹

II. BACKGROUND

A. DESCRIPTION OF PLAINTIFFS

The plaintiffs are a coalition of three terminally ill patients, five physicians who treat terminally ill patients, and Compassion in Dying, an organization which provides support, counseling and assistance to mentally competent, terminally ill adults considering suicide.

1. The patients²

Jane Roe is a 69-year-old retired pediatrician who has suffered since 1988 from cancer which has now metastasized throughout her skeleton. Although she tried and benefitted temporarily from various treatments including chemotherapy and radiation, she is now in the terminal phase of her disease. In November of 1993, her doctor referred her to hospice care. Only patients with a life expectancy of less than six months are eligible for such care.

Jane Roe has been almost completely bedridden since June of 1993 and experiences constant pain, which becomes especially sharp and severe when she moves. The only medical treatment available to her at this time is medication, which cannot fully alleviate her pain. In addition, she suffers from swollen legs, bed sores, poor appetite, nausea and vomiting, impaired vision, incontinence of bowel, and general weakness.

Jane Roe is mentally competent and wishes to hasten her death by taking prescribed drugs with the help of plaintiff Compassion in Dying. In keeping with the requirements of that organization, she has made three requests for its members to provide her and her family with counseling, emotional support and any necessary ancillary assistance at the time she takes the drugs.

John Doe is a 44-year-old artist dying of AIDS. Since his diagnosis in 1991, he has experienced two bouts of pneumonia, chronic, severe skin and sinus infections, grand mal seizures and extreme fatigue. He has already lost 70% of his vision to cytomegalovirus retinitis, a degenerative disease which will result in blindness and rob him of his ability to paint. His doctor has indicated that he is in the terminal phase of his illness.

John Doe is especially cognizant of the suffering imposed by a lingering terminal illness because he was the primary caregiver for his long-term companion who died of AIDS in June of 1991. He also observed his grandfather's death from diabetes preceded by multiple amputations as well as loss of vision and hearing. Mr. Doe is mentally competent, understands there is no cure for AIDS, and wants his physician to prescribe drugs which he can use to hasten his death.

James Poe is a 69-year-old retired sales representative who suffers from emphysema, which causes him a constant sensation of suffocating. He is connected to an oxygen tank at all times, and takes morphine regularly to calm the panic reaction associated with his feeling of suffocation. Mr. Poe also suffers from heart failure related to his pulmonary disease which obstructs the flow of blood to his extremities and causes severe leg pain. There are no cures for his pulmonary and cardiac conditions, and he is in the terminal phase of his illness. Mr. Poe is mentally competent and wishes to commit suicide by taking physician-prescribed drugs.

2. The physicians

The five physician plaintiffs all regularly treat terminally ill patients. Dr. Harold Glucksberg is an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine and practices oncology, the treatment of cancer, at the Pacific Medical Center in Seattle. He has published dozens of articles in medical journals dealing with cancer.

In his declaration to the court, Dr. Glucksberg states:

Cancer usually progresses steadily and slowly. The cancer patient is fully aware of his or her present suffering and anticipates certain future suffering. The terminal cancer patient faces a future that can be terrifying. Near the end, the cancer patient is usually bedridden, rapidly losing mental and physical functions, often in excruciating, unrelenting pain. Pain management at this stage often requires the patient to choose between enduring unrelenting pain or surrendering an alert mental state because the dose of drugs adequate to alleviate the pain will impair consciousness. Many patients will choose one or the other of these options; however, some patients do not want to end their days either racked with pain or in a drug-induced stupor. For some patients pain cannot be managed even with aggressive use of drugs.

Declaration of Harold Glucksberg, M.D., pp. 3-5.

Dr. John P. Geyman was a professor and chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine from 1976 through 1990. He is currently a professor emeritus at the University of Washington and has a private practice in family medicine. Dr. Geyman has published over seventy articles regarding family medicine in medical journals, has written several books in the field, was the founding editor of the Journal of Family Practice, and has served as editor since 1990 of the Journal of the American Board of Family Practice. Dr. Geyman states to the court that,

in the presence of terminal illness, the shared goal of medical care at some point becomes comfort care rather than cure.

With advancing medical technology, many patients are subject to active and ineffective therapeutic efforts by their physicians, even when an early terminal outcome is not in doubt. As a result, many experience prolonged deaths often involving pain, suffering and loss of dignity. In reaction to this problem, an increasing number of patients want more direct control over the type of care they receive in the last stage of their lives. A subset of dying patients desire to shorten their dying process and thereby avoid a lingering death and associated pain, suffering and loss of dignity.

Terminally ill persons who seek to hasten death by consuming drugs need medical counseling.... Knowing what drug, in what amount, will hasten death for a particular patient, in light of the patient's medical condition and medication regimen, is a complex medical task.

It is not uncommon, in light of present legal constraints on physician assistance, that patients seeking to hasten their deaths try to do so without medical advice. These efforts are often unsuccessful and can cause the patient and family increased anxiety, pain and suffering. Very often, patients who survive a failed suicide attempt find themselves in worse shape than before the attempt.

Declaration of John P. Geyman, M.D., pp. 3-5.

Dr. Thomas A. Preston is currently chief of the cardiology unit at Pacific Medical Center in Seattle. He has published numerous articles and books in the field of cardiology, and has received numerous honors for medical teaching and writing. Dr. Preston regularly treats patients dying from cardiopulmonary diseases, a process which can last several months. Dr. Abigail Halperin practices family medicine and occasionally treats patients with terminal illnesses including cancer and AIDS. Dr. Peter Shalit practices general internal medicine; a substantial number of his patients suffer from HIV infection and AIDS. Both Dr. Halperin and Dr. Shalit are also clinical instructors at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

The five physician plaintiffs all state that they have received requests from terminally ill, mentally competent patients in the final stage of their diseases who wished assistance in hastening death. Although their professional judgments have at times dictated that they should assist such patients, they have all been deterred from doing so by the existence of the Washington statute challenged in this case.³

3. Compassion in Dying

Compassion in Dying is a Washington nonprofit organization which provides information, counseling and assistance free of charge to mentally competent, terminally ill adult patients considering suicide and to the families of such patients.

Compassion in Dying operates under a written protocol and has strict eligibility requirements for the individuals to whom it provides services. Eligible patients must be considered terminally ill in...