Pubdate: Thu, 08 Nov 2001 Source: Houston Chronicle (TX) Copyright: 2001 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspaper Contact: http://www.chron.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/198 ASHCROFT CHALLENGES ASSISTED SUICIDE LAW DEA Ordered To Check Oregon Doctors Associated Press WASHINGTON - Attorney General John Ashcroft sought to override the nation's only assisted suicide law Tuesday, declaring that taking the life of a terminally ill patient is not a "legitimate medical purpose" for federally controlled drugs. Doctors who use such drugs to help patients die, as permitted under the Oregon law, face suspension or revocation of their licenses to prescribe drugs, Ashcroft said in a letter to Drug Enforcement Administration chief Asa Hutchinson. The order does not call for criminal prosecution of doctors. And it does stipulate that pain management is a valid medical use of controlled substances. Still, right-to-die groups and other supporters of the Oregon law were angry that Ashcroft reversed the June 1998 order by his predecessor, Janet Reno, who prohibited federal drug agents from moving against doctors who use Oregon's law. "Given everything that the country is going through right now, with the country trying to respond to anthrax, why John Ashcroft picked this moment to inject this divisive issue into the public debate is just beyond me," said Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, a Democrat. A spokesman for the Oregon attorney general's office said the state will file motions in U.S. District Court in Portland today seeking to block the order. But some religious groups and anti-abortion organizations hailed the move by Ashcroft , whose nomination as attorney general nearly was scuttled by critics who said his strong conservative views would color his judgment. "We felt that Reno had set up a very improper and bizarre situation that had the act of killing patients with federal substances illegal in 49 states" but not in Oregon, said David O'Sheen, executive director of the National Right to Life Committee. White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said President Bush had made it clear he opposed Oregon's law. "The president believes we must value life and protect the sanctity of life at all stages," Lisaius said. At least 70 terminally ill people ended their lives after the law took effect in 1997, according to the Oregon Health Division. All did so with a federally controlled substance such as a barbiturate. Under the law, doctors may provide - but not administer - a lethal prescription to terminally ill adult state residents. It requires that two doctors agree the patient has less than six months to live, has voluntarily chosen to die and is able to make health care decisions. Some doctors worried that a side effect of Ashcroft 's decision could be that physicians and other medical professionals will be less likely to provide adequate pain relief to very ill patients. "If a physician is accused of misusing drugs, he's essentially under an intense degree of investigation," Oregon Medical Association Executive Director Robert Dernedde said. "Appropriate pain management is going to be compromised." - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart