L.D. 1313 should not pass

Editor,

I personally do not support L.D. 1313 (what an unlucky number to use, especially if you are superstitious, and we should be about this bill), which would allow terminally ill adults with less than six months of life expectancy to request a prescription for a lethal dose of medication. On the way to daily Mass last week as I considered our family needs, I came to the realization, once again, that my life is not my own. It belongs to God, to do with as he pleases or wishes.

My wife puts it another way: we do not own anything; we are merely caretakers of all we have. Thus we are pleased to have God, not prescription medicines, guide our life, or the end of it, on earth. However, reading the “Highlights of the Maine Death With Dignity Act” as listed in the Journal Tribune, I was amazed that a physician, including my own Representative, Dr. Patricia Hymanson, who sponsored the bill, would accept the responsibilities the bill lays on him/her. The bill would prohibit a doctor from prescribing a lethal dose to patients whose depression or psychological state raises questions about their competency.

My own primary care (PC) physician is not a psychologist and thus, I believe, not fully competent to make psychological assessments. So, does my PC call in a psychologist to make that assessment or risk doing it alone, opening my PC to potential malpractice suits if things do not go well? Also, the bill “requires” a physician to confirm the patient’s request is not the result of coercion or undue influence by another person. What qualifies my PC to conduct such investigations of my family and friends for undue influence or coercion?

There is another malpractice suit opportunity. If I was a physician, I would not want to be anywhere near such a requirement. Of course the PC could ask the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to conduct an assessment; but if you have been in any way knowledgeable of the problems in our DHHS over the past few years, that would probably not help.

Oh yes, one other thing, will the insurance companies be willing to pay for all these assessments and investigations? I think not. These are just few of the fatal flaws I see in L.D. 1313. I pray it does not finally pass. I love the prophetic LD number, though. I hope it is truly prophetic!