The nation's largest faith-based physicians organization maintains that a ruling Wednesday by a federal court assails the ethical foundations of medicine, puts vulnerable patients at risk, and makes doctors reluctant to comfort patients by aggressively prescribing medication for pain. "The U.S. District Court in Oregon today tragically failed to recognize that medicine is the art of healing -- not killing," said Dr. David Stevens, executive director of the 16,000-member Christian Medical Association
Stevens added, "Attorney General John Ashcroft's excellent ruling of Nov. 6, now overturned by the court, would have especially protected terminally ill patients who often battle depression and suicidal thoughts. The Attorney General's ruling also would have enabled doctors to aggressively manage their patients' pain without fear of unreasonable, regulatory scrutiny or penalization."
Oregon's physician-assisted suicide policy contradicts the national Controlled Substances Act, which regulates the use of powerful drugs. The state law has resulted in the death of dozens of people by narcotics overdose. Last November, Attorney General John Ashcroft clarified that any health care professional who violates the Controlled Substances Act would lose the privilege of prescribing federally controlled substances.