Background. Since the Oregon Death with Dignity Act was passed in Nove
mber 1994, physicians in Oregon have faced the prospect of legalized p
hysician-assisted suicide. We studied the attitudes and current practi
ces of Oregon physicians in relation to assisted suicide. Methods. Fro
m March to June 1995, we conducted a cross-sectional mailed survey of
all physicians who might be eligible to prescribe a lethal dose of med
ication if the Oregon law is upheld, Physicians were asked to complete
and return a confidential 56-item questionnaire. Results. Of the 3944
eligible physicians who received the questionnaire, 2761 (70 percent)
responded. Sixty percent of the respondents thought physician-assiste
d suicide should be legal in some cases, and nearly half (46 percent)
might be willing to prescribe a lethal dose of medication if it were l
egal to do so; 31 percent of the respondents would be unwilling to do
so on moral grounds. Twenty-one percent of the respondents have previo
usly received requests for assisted suicide, and 7 percent have compli
ed. Half the respondents were not sure what to prescribe for this purp
ose, and 83 percent cited financial pressure as a possible reason for
such requests. The respondents also expressed concern about complicati
ons of suicide attempts and doubts about their ability to predict surv
ival at six months accurately. Conclusions. Oregon physicians have a m
ore favorable attitude toward legalized physician-assisted suicide, ar
e more willing to participate, and are currently participating in grea
ter numbers than other surveyed groups of physicians in the United Sta
tes. A sizable minority of physicians in Oregon objects to legalizatio
n and participation on moral grounds. Regardless of their attitudes, p
hysicians had a number of reservations about the practical application
s of the act. (C) 1996, Massachusetts Medical Society.