Others contend that physicians fail to recognize treatable depression in chronically ill patients, and that it is inappropriate for physicians to resolve the dilemma of whether a patient is better off dead or alive. Legislative Action Sought Tennessee law does not forbid a physician from prescribing medication to ease the suffering of a terminally ill patient, even though such medications may hasten death. No state permits a physician to assist a person in commiting suicide, however. Last August, a federal court in Oregon struck down the state's Death with Dignity Act on the grounds that it failed to protect adequately the rights of the terminally ill. Members of the Tennessee Hemlock Society are working for passage of a state law that allows a doctor to assist a person who is terminally ill and wants to die.
Similar legislation is pending in other state legislatures, such as Arizona.
Tennessee Right to Life opposes such measures. Suzanne Sevier, the group's executive director, told the Nashville Banner that the group is not against the right of a person to refuse medical treatment. Elder Law FAX is published weekly by Timothy L. Takacs, Attorney at Law. 201 Walton Ferry Road, Hendersonville, Tennessee 37077-0364. Copyright 1996 by Timothy L. Takacs.