Washington state hides how many people die by assisted suicide

Telegraph

4 days ago

Washington state will no longer release data on how many people choose to die by assisted suicide.
The Washington State Department of Health (DoH) has scrapped its annual report showing how many people are choosing an assisted death, blaming budget limitations.
By law, the health service is required to publish a yearly report that breaks down the number of deaths by age and demographics.
It also includes accounts of the reasons patients choose an assisted death, which campaigners have said are an 'essential' guardrail to ensure vulnerable people are not being coerced into ending their lives.
However, the health service said it has taken the 'difficult decision' to suspend producing the report to free up staff to 'prioritise patient safety and other critical work'.
The move has sparked dismay among doctors and disability rights campaigners who warned that it creates 'serious risks of abuse'.
Dr Ramona Coelho, a family medicine practitioner based in London, Ontario, told The Telegraph: 'An accountable assisted suicide regime requires oversight.
'Assisted suicide is not a medical decision; it is a legal act, with specific eligibility criteria and procedural safeguards that must be met.
'A lack of reporting creates serious risks of abuse, negligence, and erosion of public trust.'
'Transparency is essential'
Experts have warned that scrapping reporting will lead to a lack of oversight of assisted deaths in the state.
'When the state plays a role in the premature deaths of its own citizens, transparency isn't optional – it's essential. But without full, accessible data on assisted suicide, the public can't know whether cases are rising or falling, or if vulnerable groups are disproportionately affected,' said Rebecca Vachon, the director for Health at Cardus.
'So, this isn't just a data issue; it's a question of life and death. If anything needs to be cut, it's assisted suicide itself – not the public's right to know.'
Jessica Rodgers, a director at Patients Rights Action Fund, said scrapping reporting could lead to abuses going unreported.
'This data, which consistently shows patients request lethal drugs for reasons of disability, not wanting to be a burden and concerns around the costs of treatment, is the foundation of accountability,' she said.
'Simply to ignore this provision begs the question of what else is ignored and what abuses remain unreported.'
'No longer following own laws'
Alexander Raikin, bioethics expert at the Ethics and Public Policy Centre, said the decision represents one of 'the largest assisted suicide programmes in the United States no longer following its own laws'.
The state adopted the Death with Dignity Act in 2009, becoming the second US state after Oregon to legalise assisted dying.
The law, which allowed terminally ill adults to request medication to end their lives, was expanded in 2023 to reduce the 15-day waiting period to receive lethal drugs to seven days, and allow nurses to prescribe and mail medication to patients.
Since passing the legislation, the number of people in the state who have opted for an assisted death every year has increased by more than 500 per cent to 524 people, according to 2023 figures.
While the most common age to choose an assisted death in Washington is between 75 and 84, there were 28 people aged under 54 who died under the scheme in 2023.
The DoH has been locked in a funding battle over the Death with Dignity programme, which cost $225,000 in 2025.
In a policy document, the department argued that current funding levels are 'insufficient to deliver data and reporting that reflect the department's commitment to data usability and transparency'.
As a result, the DoH said it has made 'reductions', including ending its annual reporting.