Nevada Considers Physician Assisted Suicide

Nevada is joining several Legislatures across the county in considering the legalization of physician-assisted suicide. 

State Senator David Parks (D-Las Vegas) introduced Senate Bill 336 on March 16, which would authorize “a physician to prescribe a controlled substance that is designed to end the life of a patient under certain circumstances.”  Currently, Nevada law gives terminally ill patients the right to refuse life-sustaining treatment, but SB336 extends those rights by giving patients the right to “self-determination concerning medically assisted, informed, voluntary decisions about dying with dignity and avoid unnecessary suffering.” 

The bill will require patients to be diagnosed by two physicians, make two verbal requests at least fifteen days apart, make a written statement and be mentally competent.  Only the patient can administer the suicide drug(s). 

See Laney Olson, Nevada Mulls Legalizing Assisted Suicide, Courthouse News Service, March 24, 2015.