In 11 U.S. states, doctors and pharmacists must file compliance forms and meet strict eligibility checks for assisted suicide, but violations reportedly go unsanctioned—no suspensions or license revocations even when patients were endangered. One Colorado hospice deemed a patient incompetent for treatment while she was simultaneously approved for lethal drugs, with the medication destroyed only after a guardianship order. The oversight system relies on paperwork and 'good‑faith' filings that, in practice, aren’t enforced.
— If life‑ending regimes run on unenforced rules, consent safeguards are performative and public trust in medical governance erodes.
Robert J. Bellafiore
2025.10.09
55% relevant
While focused on eligibility creep rather than paperwork compliance, the article’s Canada/Oregon examples imply guardrails and oversight fail in practice, echoing the concern that assisted‑suicide regimes don’t stay within narrow, enforceable limits.
by Jessica Schreifels, The Salt Lake Tribune
2025.09.26
55% relevant
Both cases show health‑sector rules on paper but weak or misdirected enforcement in practice. Here, Utah’s Division of Professional Licensing reinstated Dr. Nicholas LaFeber despite the dentistry board urging revocation and a veteran oral surgeon’s warning of 'severe' complications—mirroring an oversight system that prioritizes process or practitioner leniency over public protection.
by Eli Cahan for ProPublica
2025.09.22
62% relevant
Both pieces show medical‑legal regimes that look strict on paper but are barely enforced in practice. Here, psychiatric hospitals violate EMTALA by discharging or refusing unstable patients, and CMS/inspectors seldom impose meaningful sanctions; in the assisted‑suicide case, compliance forms replace real oversight with no penalties. The common pattern is performative rules without enforcement.
Alexander Raikin
2025.08.27
100% relevant
Raikin cites Washington’s statutory 'good‑faith' filing requirement, the PRAF lawsuit over a 29‑year‑old in crisis, and his finding of zero clinician suspensions or revocations despite violations.