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8/16/99, 1:07 pmcdt
HR 2260: THE PAIN RELIEF PROMOTION ACT OF 1999
WHAT IS NDY ASKING YOU TO DO?
We are writing to ask you to contact your congresspersons to urge them to co-sponsor HR 2260, the Pain Relief Promotion Act of 1999, and its companion bill, S 1272. A bill summary is provided below. We need more supporters in order to move the bill out of committee (House Judiciary) and onto the floor for a vote.
Feel free to use the information in this action alert, but please write your letters in your own words. We'd appreciate it if you'd let us know about the letters you send.
WHAT WOULD HR 2260 DO?
HR 2260 is the Pain Relief Promotion Act of 1999. It was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representative Henry Hyde. A companion bill, S 1272, was introduced in the Senate by Senator Don Nickles.
HR 2260 would do two things. Title I of the bill would amend the Controlled Substances Act to state clearly that pain control is a "legitimate medical purpose" (even when the use of proper pain control would increase the risk of death) under the CSA, but assisted suicide is not. Physicians who prescribe controlled substances *with the intent* of aiding in an assisted suicide would be in violation of the law. Title II of the bill would authorize 5 million dollars to be used to train physicians and other health care professionals in palliative care.
WHY IS TITLE I IMPORTANT?
As you know, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in 1997 that assisted suicide is
not a Constitutional right. The struggle over assisted suicide and euthanasia is therefore being waged at the state level.
So far, one state (Oregon) has legalized assisted suicide. In Oregon, it is now legal for doctors to prescribe medications to certain patients with the intention that those patients will use the medications to commit suicide. Representative Hyde decided to contact the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to ask whether it would be legal, under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to prescribe controlled substances for that purpose.
The CSA requires that physicians who want to prescribe certain drugs (controlled substances) possess a special license and do so for "legitimate medical purposes," and it gives the DEA the authority to grant these licenses and enforce the law.
Although the DEA said that assisted suicide is not a legitimate medical purpose under the CSA, Attorney General Janet Reno disagreed; she ruled that in the state of Oregon, physicians with licenses to dispense controlled substances could dispense those controlled substances for the purpose of aiding in a suicide. In the other 49 states, intending to provide patients with a means to commit suicide is not a legitimate reason for prescribing controlled substances.
Reno's ruling means that the federal government recognizes a right for Oregon legislators' to determine what's a legitimate goal of medicine - and they have decided that physician-induced death is legitimate.
Title I of HR 2260 would change that. It would prohibit the use of "federal" licenses in physician-induced death. The federal government's refusal to support assisted suicide is important, and Reno's ruling on the CSA has weakened it.
WHAT MIGHT LEGISLATORS BE THINKING?
Your legislators may have some misconceptions about HR 2260.
HR 2260 is described as "a bill to amend the Controlled Substances Act to promote pain management and palliative care without permitting assisted suicide and euthanasia, and for other purposes." This description leads to an inaccurate picture of the bill. It would be better described as "a bill to amend the Controlled Substances Act to promote *the use of controlled substances for* pain management and palliative care without permitting *the use of controlled substances for* assisted suicide and euthanasia, and for other purposes."
Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon has taken the position that HR 2260 would override the Oregon law and prohibit assisted suicide in that state. This is inaccurate. 2260 would forbid Oregon physicians (and all other physicians) from using "federally controlled substances" for assisted suicide and euthanasia; those substances whose use is not regulated by the federal government could still be used - and not all drugs which could be used for that purpose are federally controlled substances. If 2260 were to pass, assisted suicide could still take place in Oregon.
Because of these misconceptions, many Democrats and many of those who have historically supported people with disabilities are not supporting HR 2260. It is important, therefore, that we educate legislators as to what this bill is all about. It would promote palliative care, and create consistency among federal statutes on the topic of assisted suicide.
WHAT'S THE TIME FRAME ON ALL THIS?
Congress will be in recess in August. During that period, we want to make
our point, so that when legislators come back from vacation at the start of September, we can move these bills out of committee.
So, please, write and/or visit your federal legislators during the recess.
The Memphis Center for Independent Living
1633 Madison Avenue,
Memphis, TN 38104
(901) 726-6404 v/tty (901) 726-6521 fax
mcil@mcil.org
MCIL is a United Way of the Mid-South member Agency
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