Peter Goodwin dies at 83, aided by Death With Dignity Act he championed

AP

(CBS/AP) A doctor who championed for Oregon's Death With Dignity Act has died, assisted by the law he fought so hard for a decade earlier.

Portland physician Dr. Peter Goodwin died Sunday at 83 in his home after using lethal chemicals obtained under the Oregon law, surrounded by his family.

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Goodwin was diagnosed in 2006 with a rare brain disorder, corticobasal ganglionic degeneration, that progressively robbed him of his movement. Years earlier, campaigning for an Oregon assisted suicide law, he talked publicly about what he would do if he received a terminal diagnosis.

"I don't want to go out with a whimper. I want to say goodbye to my kids and my wife with dignity. And I would end it," he said years before his diagnosis, according to a profile published last month in The Oregonian.

In an interview with the newspaper shortly before his death, he reflected on his life.

"We just haven't come to terms with the fact that we're going to die, all of us, and to make concessions to that is really giving up hope," he said.

Rather, in his view, when at death's door, "the situation needs thought, it doesn't need hope. It needs planning, it doesn't need hope. Hope is too ephemeral at that time."

Oregon was the first state to allow terminally ill patients to take their own lives with the help of lethal medications supplied by a doctor. Voters approved the Death With Dignity Act in 1994 and 1997. In 2010, 65 people used it to precipitate their death, the largest number since the law was enacted.

Washington and Montana have adopted similar legislation.

Goodwin campaigned for years to enact the law, and he has called it his greatest legacy. He said it spurred medicine to focus attention on the needs of the dying, with more palliative care and hospice.

He helped launch the organization Compassion & Choices, that advocates laws that help terminal patients die, and supports patients and families facing the end of life.

"I was honored to call Peter Goodwin a compatriot and a friend," said Barbara Coombs Lee, president of Compassion & Choices. "Our hearts are broken at his loss. The state of Oregon, medicine, and the world have lost a great leader. Most of all, our sympathies are with his family whom he dearly loved."

Goodwin, born and educated in South Africa, was a family physician at Oregon Health and Science University since 1985.

Life is unfair, Goodwin told The Oregonian. But he offered a prescription.

"Be fulfilled," he said. "In other words, be happy with yourself. Recognize achievements and be proud of them then go on to further achievements. Know what you want to do and do it. Be happy. Know good friends. Be in love."

According to ProCon.org, Oregon, Washington, and Montana are the only three states to have legalized physician-assisted suicide.

Here's a video of Dr. Goodwin from Compassion & Choices:

[ThomasSense]

I watched my father die with lung cancer. His quality of life went very fast from watching golf, to walking only to the kitchen and bathroom, to a wheelchair ride less than a block, to asking for ice chips, to nodding instead of speaking, then a very long time of waiting to die. I felt he starved to death. That is not a dignified way to die.

[vbleistein]

I had that experience. My mother wanted to die but family members refused to listen to her when she spoke of dying. When you see the suffering they go through it is as painful as it gets.

[Bouillabaisse]

A highly public death, reported on the internet with pictures of the decedent -- his head will appear photoshopped onto the backend of a llama tomorrow. That's true dignity.

[kansas1946]

This ought to be a national right, not a hodge-podge of states deciding how a person should die. It should be understood under our Constitution that a person has this right, but apparently no one gets self-determination. So we need to push for a constitutional amendment that gives every American the right to determine how they die.

[PrideInCountry]

RIP Dr. Goodwin. Thank you for your work. It helped my father die with dignity two years ago, with my sister and I at his side. Should I ever become terminal, I will be sure to reside in a state that allows this end of life choice.

[rightontarget]

I totally agree, when you are dying, how it happens should be your choice. Everybody wants to just drop dead or die in their sleep but most of us do not get that choice. I think that if we can decide how we live we should also be able to decide how we die if in that situation.

[Raptorsmasher]

This law could only pass in states with a high degree of intellect and compassion.

[lesserof2evil]

Im just glad I live in Washington State. Thanks Dr. Goodwin.

[SusanStoHelit]

This is a wonderful law - I just wish it was present everywhere. When you are dying, how it happens should be your choice.