Pubdate: Thur, 28 Oct 1999 Source: Orange County Register (CA) Copyright: 1999 The Orange County Register Contact: http://www.ocregister.com/ HR 2260 IS POOR MEDICINE FOR THE ILL Sometimes laws aren't what they seem.One such law is House Resolution 2260, by Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois, which is supposed to save lives but could end up harming more people than it helps. Yesterday the House of Representatives passed it, 271-156. It will now be up to the Senate to stop this bad law. HR 2260 would require that the FDA ban the use of pain medication for assisted suicide. It is aimed to counteract Measure 16, a 1994 Oregon initiative that allows assisted suicide in that state. We oppose assisted suicide and wrote against an initiative similar to Oregon's, Proposition 161, when it was on the California ballot in 1992 and which lost in our state. But HR 2260 is the wrong way to go about preventing assisted suicides in Oregon and elsewhere. HR 2260 states, "Alleviating pain or discomfort in the usual course of professional practice is a legitimate medical purpose for the dispensing, distributing or administering of a controlled substance that is consistent with public health and safety, even if the use of such a substance may increase the risk of death." That seems to allow physicians wide leeway in legitimately giving patients pain drugs. "That part is OK," Dr. Harvey Rose told us; he's a medical doctor in Carmichael who has spent two decades fighting to give suffering patients adequate pain relief. But HR 2260 also states, "Nothing in this section authorizes intentionally dispensing, distributing or administering a controlled substance for the purpose of causing death or assisting another person in causing death." This other part of the law "leaves it vague," Dr. Rose said. "If you give somebody some pain medicine and he takes too many pills and dies, who's going to determine if it was given to relieve pain and suffering - - or to die? If doctors don't feel safe, they'll hold back in prescribing adequate pain relief. They'll worry about some bureaucrat considering it too much. Doctors don't want to defend themselves so they'll cut back on prescribing" to avoid dealing with bureaucrats or potential legal action. That could well mean more suffering for patients. And if patients can't get adequate pain relief, even those who otherwise never would commit suicide, might consider doing so - to get rid of the pain, Dr. Rose believes. "It's the law of unintended consequences," he said. In Congress yesterday, Rep. Steven Rothman of New Jersey pleaded, "There is already an undertreatment of pain in America. Don't make it worse." It's also ironic that conservatives in Congress such as Rep. Hyde are eager to increase the powers of the federal government over the state governments. He long has objected to the 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion decision, which eliminated all state abortion laws in favor of federal standards established by the Supreme Court. How is HR 2260's federalization of pain prescription rules any less a usurpation of state laws? California's two senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, should now work to defeat this bill. It's not really pro-life, but possibly might cost more lives than it potentially could save. It might inhibit doctors from prescribing pain medication. And it gives more new powers to the already overpowering federal bureaucracy. - --- MAP posted-by: manemez j lovitto