End of Life Care

WHEREAS, the WAFP is committed to compassionate treatment of any vulnerable person in the state of Washington, including but not limited to the elderly, disabled, those with advanced disease states as well as anyone in an acutely ill state, whether it be physical, emotional or mental impairment, consistent with physicians’ professional commitment to stand alongside their patients as healers and experts in managing advancing disease states, and

WHEREAS, the American Medical Association Code of Ethics states that “Physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, and would pose serious societal risks” and all 50 U.S. state medical societies similarly reject Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS), and

WHEREAS, the adoption of a position of neutrality by the Oregon Medical Association (OMA) as a prelude to a citizens’ initiative was widely interpreted as indicating that the OMA considered PAS to be an acceptable medical practice; and the Oregon Medical Association subsequently overwhelmingly rejected Oregon’s “Death with Dignity Act” as deeply flawed, and

WHEREAS, the few Oregon physicians responsible for the majority of PAS deaths often have no specialized training in pain management and palliative care and typically have had no previous doctor-patient relationship with the patients requesting PAS, and since there have been several published abuses of PAS in Oregon despite supposed safeguards, and

WHEREAS, the euthanasia experience in the Netherlands confirms AMA fears of uncontrolled progression from voluntary euthanasia to involuntary euthanasia of many patients from vulnerable populations including the elderly and the disabled, including children, and

WHEREAS, patient requests for PAS are most frequently prompted by inadequate physician control of pain and depression, and perceptions of being a burden, and such requests are typically withdrawn after providing proper pain and symptom relief interventions, medical treatment of depression and by providing for the emotional, spiritual, and existential needs of the patient, and

WHEREAS, the specialty of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, using hospice as an existing model of care which addresses the multiple components of suffering and the interdisciplinary team model of care needed for quality end of life care, has developed as a rapidly growing and appropriate professional response to the needs of the public for quality end of life care, therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the WAFP remains committed to professional standards that will always allow our patients to feel safe under our care without fear regarding any conflicting motives physicians may have, and that the WAFP remains committed to providing support for medical interventions that foster quality end of life care without participation in hastening death or providing a means for patients to hasten their own death, and be it further

RESOLVED, that the WAFP supports, in a multidisciplinary context, increased access to and funding of hospice and palliative care services for our patients that concur with the physician’s role as healer, and the extension of hospice care, palliative care, pain management, and other medical interventions that further optimize end of life care for those with advanced disease processes, and other vulnerable populations, such as the terminally ill, elderly, and disabled, and be it further

RESOLVED, that the WAFP encourages the expansion of medical student and resident training in communication, counseling, management and treatment of patients facing end of life needs, including training in pain control and the use of hospice and palliative care, and be it further

RESOLVED, that no trustee, officer, executive or other representative of the WAFP shall publicly represent for the WAFP any position on PAS or euthanasia that is contrary to the official position of the WAFP as determined by resolutions duly adopted by the House of Delegates.

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