Family, dog and doctor present when woman died

A 66-year-old woman with pancreatic cancer has become the first person to die under the new assisted-suicide law in Washington State. Linda Fleming died on Thursday after taking lethal medication prescribed by a doctor under the law, according to the lobby group Compassion and Choices of Washington. According to the group’s press release, the woman was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer a month ago. Her pain grew worse and upset her plans for the future. Compassion and Choices quoted Ms Fleming: "I had only recently learned how to live in the world as I had always wanted to, and now I will no longer be here. So my fatal disease arrived at a most inopportune time…

"I am a very spiritual person, and it was very important to me to be conscious, clear-minded and alert at the time of my death. The powerful pain medications were making it difficult to maintain the state of mind I wanted to have at my death."

She was accompanied by her family, her dog and her doctor when she took her life. ~ New York Times, May 22

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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