When Barbara Wagner learned that her lung cancer had returned after being in remission and would likely kill her, her insurance company refused to pay for the drugs her doctor prescribed to her. The Oregon Health Plan would, however, cover drugs for a physician-assisted death.
Says Wagner, "I got a letter in the mail that basically said if you want to take the pills, we will help you get that from the doctor and we will stand there and watch you die. But we won't give you the medication to live."
Both critics and supporters of Oregon's decade-old Death With Dignity Law -- the only one of its kind in the nation -- are up in arms over the indignity of her unsigned rejection letter. Opponents say the law presents all involved with an "unacceptable conflict" and the impression that insurance companies see dying as a cost-saving measure. They say it steers those with limited finances toward assisted death.