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Assisted Suicide Decision Praised, Condemned Locally

Posted on: Wednesday, 18 January 2006, 18:02 CST

By Fernando Del Valle, Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, Texas

Jan. 18--HARLINGEN -- For some terminally ill patients, doctor-assisted suicide would free them from their pain, but the love of his family helps keep him alive, Dennis Pemelton said Tuesday.

"It's your choice. If people want to go out, it's the way to go," said Pemelton, 47, a diesel mechanic dying of liver disease. "It all depends on how sick you are. Some people might be strong enough to go through it. But I could see how some people would say, 'The heck with it. I'm checking out.'"

Tuesday, terminally ill patients spoke out about doctor-assisted suicide after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Oregon law that allows doctors to prescribe lethal drugs to patients with less than six months to live.

While some physicians hailed the Supreme Court's ruling as a precedent-setting decision, others warned doctor-assisted suicide posed moral and ethical dilemmas.

At Comfort House hospice in McAllen, Frieda M. Hauck described doctor-assisted suicide as a form of murder.

"You're not supposed to kill. It says so in the Bible," said Hauck, 91, who's dying of colon cancer. "You're not supposed to take your life. It's in God's hands that I'm here. I suppose God still wants me here."

In her final days, she and her family have helped each other prepare for her death, said Hauck, who used to run a real estate business.

"I still find joy in church services, music, nature and people," said Hauck, who said she doesn't suffer great pain. "I've had a good life. I go over the years."

But pain torments Pemelton, a victim of hepatitis C, which destroyed his liver.

"There's some days I wish it would be over with, but I don't think I could do it myself. I have reasons to live as long as I can -- mainly my family. I want to be with them as long as I can," said Pemelton, a patient at Knapp Medical Center's hospice in Weslaco.

"Every day is a struggle," he said. "You're always in pain. It's just a never-ending nightmare. Some days are total hell and some aren't so bad. I'm tired of the way I've got to live. To me it's just a slow, agonizing death."

In the Rio Grande Valley's medical community, Dr. Darvy Fuller hailed the Supreme Court's stand against government intervention in doctor-patient relationships.

"I think that's between the patient and the doctor. I don't think the government should intercede," said Fuller, a Harlingen oncologist.

"We are not able to keep everyone comfortable. There are some types of pain that can't be relieved," Fuller said. "Oregon is a very progressive-moving state that has come up with a very good law for people with terminal cancer. I think that's a law every state should consider. I suspect we'll see more laws similar to it."

For some physicians, doctor-assisted suicide poses moral and ethical dilemmas, said Dr. Todd Shenkenberg, a Harlingen oncologist.

"It's such a difficult decision for a physician because you're supposed to be taking care of patients, not killing them," Shenkenberg said. "How am I to take somebody's life? I don't think I should have that power, that authority. Every physician has to face his own decision and his God."

The Oregon law allows doctors to prescribe lethal drugs to patients given less than six months to live. But sometimes patients outlive their doctors' outlook, said Shenkenberg, who said "one in 100" of his patients expresses interest in doctor-assisted suicide.

"I don't think we can predict that in many patients," Shenkenberg said. "Some patients we refer to hospice live one or two years."

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Copyright (c) 2006, Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, Texas

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Source: Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, Texas)

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