Barbara Wagner is dying of lung cancer, and Oregon won't pay for any more treatment.
But it will cover a fatal dosage of drugs so she can kill herself.
Dr. Kevin Olson, a member of the Oregon Health Services Commission, said coverage is limited to "those services that offer the most benefit in terms of prolonging life, especially those services that are low cost and high value.”
So the state is offering Wagner end-of-life "comfort care" — suicide.
"They’ve changed the language to make a handful of pills costing $50 a way to comfort people," said Dr. David Stevens, executive director of the Christian Medical Association. "That sends a terrible message to patients.
“How do you comfort someone who’s dead? That’s ridiculous.”
The pharmaceutical company has stepped in to pay for the medicine Wagner was denied.
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