Dr. Tom Jeanne:

I thank the Senator for the questions. The 33% are people who died of natural causes in general. They died before they had the opportunity to take the medication or decided not to take the medication at all and wait for a natural death. Part of our process is giving patients full control over this all along the way. They are the ones who submit the two verbal requests, the written request, they are the ones who must take the medication and they can rescind the request or not take it as they choose.

As an additional word about Oregon's experience and the laws, they are really focused on the patients and there are a lot of safeguards in place on the front end before they get the medication. On the medical decisions about terminal illness or competency or capability to make those decisions, that is entirely up to the two physicians who must agree and a psychiatric evaluation is required if either physician determines it necessary prior to the medication being prescribed. Consequently, there are a lot of safeguards in place and we really have not seen a lot of, or really any, major concerns in terms of patients' diversion or abuse.