A woman in her mid-fifties requested assisted suicide from her cardiologist, and after a third referral, was told that with more than six months to live, she was ineligible to receive the lethal drug prescription. Rather than explore her repeated request for assistance in suicide, she was sent home. Tragically, she died by suicide the next day.

Assisted suicide laws fail to promote meaningful patient assessment, thereby abandoning some patients when they need the most support.