Sansum Clinic announced it would not opt out of participating in California’s medically-assisted-suicide law, which went into effect five weeks ago. This makes Sansum — with 180 doctors and 125,000 patients — the biggest medical provider in the county to agree to assist terminally ill patients end their own lives. “Given our size and scope and the number of patients we care for and the types of diseases we see, it doesn’t make sense for us not to participate,” stated Marjorie Newman, Sansum assistant medical director.
The verdict, Newman said, was reached after much deliberation among physicians, executive staff, and board members. “This was not an easy decision,” she said. “It’s not the sort of thing you can hope to achieve consensus about. We didn’t do any polling, but I can tell you some physicians have said, ‘Absolutely not,’ while others have expressed support.”
Dr. Fred Kass, a leading figure with the Cancer Center — which is affiliated with Sansum — added, “This is a difficult, somber decision. We’re programmed to want to live. But the Legislature voted to make this choice available. We have a responsibility to be faithful to what the Legislature enacted. I don’t think we can say, ‘Yeah, but not here.’”