Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 3 October 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying

Assisted Dying in the United States: Discussion

Dr. Tom Jeanne:

Yes. Would the Deputy like me to reply about the prescriptions specifically? Regarding the concerns about unused medications, 90% of our patients have been on hospice care, and hospice will take care of those unused medications. In other cases where patients are dying at home, we do not have official guidance, but it would be like any other unused medication in that they should be returned to a pharmacy or other approved site for drug disposal. We have not had any reports of accidental ingestion of death with dignity lethal medications in Oregon.