Washington State was the second US state to legalise assisted suicide after a ballot initiative. The law commenced in March 2009. The latest data release from the Washington Department of Health for the 2015 calendar year highlights and reinforces concerns. This is particularly important for Victorians where a recent Parliamentary Report recommended a form of legislation that would make it lawful for a doctor to prescribe a lethal dose.Washington's so-called Death with Dignity Act allows adult residents in the state with six months or less to live to request lethal doses of medication from a physician. Like in Oregon, the doctor is required to report all deaths under the act to the Health Authority, not, as Andrew Denton recently said on national television, to the coroner. Continue reading