Did financial considerations influence the HMO director to write the prescription?
REF: Barnett EH. Is Mom capable of choosing to die? Oregonian 10/17/99 Duin S. Kate Cheney still doesn’t rest in peace. Oregonian 11/11/99 Killing Grandma. [editorial] Brainstorm magazine Nov 1999 Diamet NJ. The case against assisted suicide. Jewish Week 9/15/2000 CASE 3: Patrick Matheny, 43, had Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS). For several months, he struggled with a decision to end his life using a lethal prescription. He would set arbitrary deadlines, then, when the time came, would set new deadlines. At first, it was to be after his 15-year-old son came to visit last Thanksgiving. Then it was to be when he could no longer dress and wash himself. As an article in the Oregonian put it, “Pat felt he would rather be dead than accept help to bathe and dress.” But when the time came, he was able to handle having his mother and hospice nurses help him-so he set new deadlines. On 3/10/99, Matheny tried to swallow the barbiturates mixed into a chocolate nutrition drink, sweetened with a boxful o
