End of Life Option Act takes effect in California

UPDATE 5:30 p.m.

For about four decades, Dr. Philip Dreisbach has treated hundreds of patients as an oncologist.

And throughout the years, he’s even helped those who thought they were at the end of the road.

“Many of them have come to us with a preconceived notion that they’re going to be in terrible pain, and that the outlook is terrible, and they only have a couple of months or a year to live,” Dreisbach said. “And it turns out they’ve been reading the wrong books or hearing the wrong things.”

Dreisbach said he and other doctors are tackling a new issue.

A new law, known as the California End of Life Option Act, pertains to doctors helping patients take their own life.

California is now the fifth state to allow terminally ill patients to seek drugs to end their life.

Now, he and other physicians are filing a lawsuit against the state over the new law, saying it’s not the right prescription.

“Why people are so interested in death,” Dreisbach said. “It’s either they’re misguided, or more importantly, they really want death for these patients.

While there’s not one specific drug for this option, Dreisbach said the prescription used would be similar to high doses of morphine and Benadryl.

But others like Debra Savitt, a spiritual coordinator for Serenity Hospice in Palm Springs, said she personally believed the law helps provide patients a new choice.

“For example in Oregon, a lot of the cases were stage four, or different types of cancers,” Savitt said. “If it’s something where they feel they’re really going to suffer, and they don’t want their family to suffer with them, then they might be able to make that choice to take the medication.”

A choice Dreisbach said he doesn’t want to prescribe.

“If you’re going to trust your doctor, and you’re going to put your life in their hands, don’t trust the doctor that’s going to give you suicide pills,” Dreisbach said. “You don’t know what you may be getting.”

There are some guidelines for medical aid in dying under the new law.

According to the law, you must be an adult, be terminally ill, be given a prognosis of six months or less to live, and be mentally capable of making your own healthcare decisions.

Dreisbach said Eisenhower Medical Center has chosen not to administer the option to patients, and that the case is expected to go before a judge for further hearings.

Savitt said her view on the law does not represent Serenity Hospice’s view as a whole.

But the center is expected to hold a meeting next Friday, June 17th, with representatives from Compassion & Choices to educate patients on the new law.

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A new law taking effect in California Thursday allows terminally ill patients to commit suicide using end-of-life medications.

The End of Life Option Act was signed into law in October by Governor Jerry Brown and is meant to help terminally ill patients avoid suffering. Patients must be over 18 and have less than six months to live.

There are a few other stipulations to the law as well.

Zak Dahlheimer is looking into the details and he’s getting reaction from Coachella Valley residents to hear what they think about the legislation. Watch the full report on KESQ at 5 p.m. and on CBS Local 2 at 6:30 p.m.