More people than ever received prescriptions for lethal drugs in Oregon in 2025, according to a new report.
Last year, doctors wrote 637 prescriptions under the state’s “Death with Dignity Act,” a progressive euphemism for state-sanctioned physician-assisted suicide, The Oregonian reported, citing recently released state data. That number is the highest on record since the law went into effect in 1997 and represents a 5-percent increase from 2024, according to the report.
Oregon was the first state to pass an assisted suicide law in the United States, but is now one of a dozen states, plus Washington, DC, that allow physicians to assist in the suicides of terminally ill patients. In Oregon, patients must be at least 18, be able to make their own medical decision, and have a prognosis of six months or less to live.
Since 1997, 5,520 people have obtained prescriptions for suicide drugs in Oregon and 3,691 have followed through with using the drugs to end their lives, according to the report.
Data from the Oregon Health Authority also show more out-of-state patients obtaining prescriptions for lethal drugs last year since the state dropped its residency requirement in 2023. In 2025, 37 people who live outside of Oregon received suicide drugs, compared with 24 in 2024, according to the report.