Hawaii’s Assisted Suicide Law: Patient, Provider Education Key

Government officials in Hawaii are relying on education initiatives to ensure hospitals and patients alike are prepared for the new assisted suicide law, which takes effect Jan 1.

The Our Care, Our Choice Act gives mentally capable, terminally ill people the option to take life-ending medication if they have six months or less to live. It was was modeled after Oregon’s statute. Stakeholders in Hawaii have a variety of responses to the new law.

Government agencies are asking hospitals to properly inform patients and develop policies that emphasize neutrality. And large providers like health systems are hiring experts to ...