Assisted Suicide Laws:
Cases of Abuse Will Go Unnoticed
Thomas Middleton
“The law does not include any oversight or regulation that is distinct from what is done for other medical care… Oregon Health Authority does not investigate whether patients met the Death With Dignity Act [assisted suicide legislation] criteria, nor how their diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment options were determined.”*
Thomas Middleton had Lou Gehrig’s disease and moved into his estate trustee’s home. Later that same month he died by assisted suicide. Two days after Middleton died, his trustee listed the property for sale and deposited $90,000 into her own account. It took a federal investigation into real estate fraud to expose what happened. Meanwhile, the Oregon state agency responsible for regulating the law was not aware of this situation nor did they take any action on whether his assisted suicide may have been coerced.
We will not know whether this was a case of fraud or murder because assisted suicide cases are nearly impossible to regulate and monitor.
