Ohio

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2019
Ohio Suicide Crisis as State Nurses Support Assisted Suicide
(National Review — November 14, 2019)
The Ohio Nurses Association, a union with 11,000 members, has endorsed legalizing assisted suicide….Ohio is in the midst of a suicide crisis, with such deaths increasing by 45 percent since 2007.

2018
Senator Charleta Tavares introduced a doctor-prescribed suicide bill, titled the “End of Life Option Act” (SB249).  The bill did not pass.
Text of bill
Analysis of bill
“Drug overdose could become a legal choice for some”
(Herald Star — February 4, 2018)

Current Ohio law (effective March 21, 2017)
Sec. 3795.04
(A) No person shall knowingly cause another person to commit suicide or attempt to commit suicide by doing either of the following:

(1) Providing the physical means by which a person commits or attempts to commit suicide;

(2) Participating in a physical act by which the other person commits or attempts to commit suicide.

(B) Whoever violates division (A) of this section is guilty of assisting suicide, a felony of the third degree.

Proposed legislation

Text of SB 165 regarding Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST)
Analysis of SB 165
Status of SB 165 (AB 131) as of November 21, 2016

Proponents Talking Points & Responses to Talking Points Regarding SB 165

In various states, MOLST is known by other acronyms (POLST, POST, MOST, etc)

For more information on such forms see:  POLST

Articles

Ohio Suicide Crisis as State Nurses Support Assisted Suicide
(National Review — November 14, 2019)
The Ohio Nurses Association, a union with 11,000 members, has endorsed legalizing assisted suicide….Ohio is in the midst of a suicide crisis, with such deaths increasing by 45 percent since 2007.

“Ohio doctor charged with 25 counts of murder, accused of prescribing excessive doses of painkillers”
(NBC news — June 5, 2019)
William Husel voluntarily surrendered to authorities in Columbus and was charged in 25 deaths following a six-month investigation by the Franklin County Prosecutors Office. The patient deaths exposed a stunning case of medical oversight and alleged medical malpractice…

“Dozens of deaths prompt look at Ohio hospital regulation”
(Modern Healthcare — April 18, 2019)
Ohio [is] the only state that doesn’t license general hospitals….
Mount Carmel acknowledged in recent months that a now-fired doctor, William Husel, ordered potentially fatal  drug doses for 29 patients over several years….
Husel and the hospital system face at least 27 related wrongful-death lawsuits.

“Mount Carmel doctor sidestepped pharmacists, persuaded nurses, sources say”
(Columbus Dispatch — February 8 , 2019)
Sidestepping pharmacists and persuading nurses to follow his orders are among the actions used by Dr. William Husel to prescribe lethal doses of pain medication for dozens of patients while working the night shift at Mount Carmel West hospital’s intensive-care unit, sources told The Dispatch.

“What we know so far about the probe of 34 patient deaths at Mount Carmel”
(Columbus Dispatch — January 30, 2019)
Twenty-three hospital employees have been placed on leave while an investigation continues, including pharmacists, nurses and some managers….
On Jan. 22, the doctor [Dr. William Husel] attended an investigative conference with State Medical Board representatives and asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when asked about his knowledge of lethal doses of fentanyl….He also asserted the right when asked if he administered lethal doses or drug combinations for the purpose of ending the lives of Mount Carmel patients….
Some [of the patients] had been hospitalized a few days, others a few hours….

Ohio doctor accused of giving fatal doses of pain medication to 27 patients.
“Mount Carmel says doctor gave 27 near-death patients potentially fatal doses of pain medications”
(Columbus Dispatch — January 15, 2019)
and
“Twenty-Seven Euthanasia Killings at Ohio Hospital?”
(National Review — January 15, 2019)