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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon man’s failed attempt at doctor-assisted suicide will be investigated by the state’s Board of Pharmacy, officials said.
The inquiry will cover the pharmaceutical aspects of the drug overdose taken by David Prueitt on Jan. 30. That could include the purity of the drug itself, as well as how it was manufactured, packaged, sold, prescribed, dispensed and ingested.
“It appears to us the doctors did everything they were supposed to,” said Dr. Mel Kohn, state epidemiologist. But he said the perplexing nature of the case prompted officials to refer it to the Pharmacy Board, which regulates the practice of pharmacy in the state.
Prueitt, 42, a terminally ill lung-cancer patient, attempted a doctor-assisted suicide at home in accordance with Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act, said his wife, Lynda Romig Prueitt. After swallowing a supposedly lethal dose of barbiturates — powder from 100 Seconal capsules — he fell into a coma but woke up nearly three days later.
Prueitt, the first known case of failed doctor-assisted suicide, died from cancer Feb. 15.
Investigators will test the 100 empty Seconal capsules retrieved from Prueitt’s home.
“The capsules are just the shells, because we had to pull them apart to get the powder,” said Dr. Nancy Crumpacker, a cancer specialist and medical consultant in the Prueitt case, said Wednesday. But a dusting of powder remains.
Compassion in Dying of Oregon, an advocacy group that favors assisted suicide, had two representatives at Prueitt’s bedside. The group has participated in more than three-quarters of the state’s cases of doctor-assisted suicide.
Crumpacker was not present when Prueitt took the overdose, but she visited him after he woke up nearly three days later. As a medical consultant for Compassion in Dying since 1998, she has participated directly or indirectly in more than 100 doctor-assisted suicides.
“I’ve never seen anybody wake up,” she said.
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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonian.com
The inquiry will cover the pharmaceutical aspects of the drug overdose taken by David Prueitt on Jan. 30. That could include the purity of the drug itself, as well as how it was manufactured, packaged, sold, prescribed, dispensed and ingested.
“It appears to us the doctors did everything they were supposed to,” said Dr. Mel Kohn, state epidemiologist. But he said the perplexing nature of the case prompted officials to refer it to the Pharmacy Board, which regulates the practice of pharmacy in the state.
Prueitt, 42, a terminally ill lung-cancer patient, attempted a doctor-assisted suicide at home in accordance with Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act, said his wife, Lynda Romig Prueitt. After swallowing a supposedly lethal dose of barbiturates — powder from 100 Seconal capsules — he fell into a coma but woke up nearly three days later.
Prueitt, the first known case of failed doctor-assisted suicide, died from cancer Feb. 15.
Investigators will test the 100 empty Seconal capsules retrieved from Prueitt’s home.
“The capsules are just the shells, because we had to pull them apart to get the powder,” said Dr. Nancy Crumpacker, a cancer specialist and medical consultant in the Prueitt case, said Wednesday. But a dusting of powder remains.
Compassion in Dying of Oregon, an advocacy group that favors assisted suicide, had two representatives at Prueitt’s bedside. The group has participated in more than three-quarters of the state’s cases of doctor-assisted suicide.
Crumpacker was not present when Prueitt took the overdose, but she visited him after he woke up nearly three days later. As a medical consultant for Compassion in Dying since 1998, she has participated directly or indirectly in more than 100 doctor-assisted suicides.
“I’ve never seen anybody wake up,” she said.
———
Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonian.com
