USD Law Professor Dov Fox Interviewed on KUSI News Regarding California's New Right to Die Law

USD Law Professor Dov Fox Interviewed on KUSI News Regarding California's New Right to Die Law

Associate Professor Dov Fox

San Diego (June 10, 2016) –University of San Diego (USD) School of Law professor Dov Fox was interviewed on KUSI news regarding California’s controversial right-to-die legislation, which was set to take effect Thursday making it the fifth state giving terminally ill patients the option to use medicine to end their life.  According to Fox, patients who qualify are competent adults who have been confirmed by two separate doctors that they only have six months to live.  Patients need to request the medicine in two ways: both in writing and verbally.  

When asked how many doctors are required to prescribe the medicine, Fox clarified, "Zero doctors would be required.  No doctor is forced if they have a conscientious objection to help a patient end his or her life.  Not only that, they don't have a requirement to refer a patient, if they are unable to do so, to a doctor or facility who would do so."

Fox also addressed concerns with the new law in regards to insurance companies.  "One concern about the law is that the drug is significantly less expensive than other options for terminally ill patients -- such as hospice or palliative care.  A worry is that insurance companies might pressure vulnerable populations in order to save money."

As part of the new law, the attending doctor is required to meet with patients privately and notify them of palliative care and hospice options before prescribing a fatal drug, which patients have to administer themselves. In the interview, Fox addresses the two big fears of the new law: that suicide will become routine and that vulnerable groups will feel pressured to die. Reporting data since 1997 out of Oregon suggests low usage (0.3%), mostly among people who are more educated and better insured. The California law sunsets automatically in 10 years, to be debated and voted on anew.

Watch the full segment on kusinews.com.

About Professor Fox

Dov Fox is an associate professor of law at the University of San Diego School of Law, where he teaches and writes in the areas of health law, criminal procedure, behavioral economics, intellectual property, and the regulation of biotechnology. His current research focuses on cognitive neuroscience and forensic evidence.

About the University of San Diego School of Law

The University of San Diego (USD) School of Law is recognized for the excellence of its faculty, depth of its curriculum, and strength of its clinical programs. Each year, USD educates approximately 900 Juris Doctor and graduate law students from throughout the United States and around the world. The law school is best known for its offerings in the areas of business and corporate law, constitutional law, intellectual property, international and comparative law, public interest and taxation.

USD School of Law is one of the 81 law schools elected to the Order of the Coif, a national honor society for law school graduates. The law school’s faculty is a strong group of outstanding scholars and teachers with national and international reputations and currently ranks 23rd worldwide in all-time faculty downloads on the Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN). The school is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. Founded in 1954, the law school is part of the University of San Diego, a private, nonprofit, independent, Roman Catholic university chartered in 1949.

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