Matt Larson, shortly after his brain surgery, with his wife, Kelly. Larson says he would like the option to end his life rather than face a painful death. (Courtesy of Matt Larson)
Last spring, everything changed for Matt Larson.
鈥淥ne day I was fine. The next I was being rushed by ambulance to Denver Health following two very massive and violent seizures,鈥� said Larson.
The force of the seizures, from the sheer shaking, fractured and dislocated his shoulders and snapped two bones in his back. Soon, his doctors聽had life-altering test results to share with him.
鈥淭hey came back and shut the door and said 鈥榶ou have mass on your brain,鈥� which was tough to hear,鈥� said聽Larson, who lives in Denver.
The diagnosis, a malignant brain tumor called an , rocked his world. Larson, 36, and his girlfriend, Kelly, decided to get married. He says a couple of days later, surgeons cracked open his skull and scooped out part of his brain. Since then he鈥檚 endured the tough road of radiation and chemo, with a sobering outlook.
鈥淚 have a 50/50 probability that I鈥檓 going to live,鈥� said Larson. 鈥淚 hope to beat the odds. I desperately want to live.鈥�
But Larson has decided that if the brain cancer returns and is incurable, he鈥檇 like the option to end his life rather than face the possibility of an agonizing and painful death.
鈥淚t would just bring me a ton of peace and comfort now to know that I have this option,鈥� Larson said.
He鈥檚 become an advocate for Colorado鈥檚 . It would give mentally competent adults the ability to end their lives with a doctor-prescribed drug, generally a high dose of a sleeping medication called secobarbital.
鈥淲e need to help people diminish and assuage their suffering any way we can,鈥� said Dr. David Grube, a family doctor in Oregon, one of five states to allow the practice.
Grube, who retired after practicing for 38 years, is also a聽national medical director for the group . He became a proponent of what he calls 鈥渄eath with dignity鈥� shortly before the law passed in Oregon in 1994. He was moved to the position after one of his patients, who was dying from bladder cancer, shot himself to death.
鈥淚f I can ever prevent such a violent and tragic end to a person鈥檚 life, I should be open to helping people,鈥� Grube said.
Four聽states currently allow the practice: Washington, Oregon, California and Vermont; and Montana has effectively legalized it, due to who help dying patients from prosecution.
A conducted last month found 70 percent said they favored Proposition 106.聽 The poll of 540 registered voters by Franklin & Marshall College was commissioned by Rocky Mountain PBS and Colorado Mesa University.
Colorado鈥檚 proposal is modeled after Oregon鈥檚 law. In both, two doctors must determine a patient is mentally capable of making the choice and isn鈥檛 under undue influence or coercion. Grube said he has helped about 30 people end their lives, with about a third of those who requested medications deciding not to take them.
鈥淢any more people just want to talk about it, just want to know if it鈥檚 a possible option,鈥� said Grube. 鈥淪till, in all, it鈥檚 quite uncommon.鈥�
According to the Oregon Public Health Division, during 2015, received prescriptions for lethal medications under the provisions of the state鈥檚 Death with Dignity Act. That was up from 155 the prior year. The division has received reports of 132 people who died in 2015 from taking the medications prescribed under the act, a rate of 38.6 per 10,000 patients.
More than 90 percent of those patients died at home and were enrolled in hospice care. Since the Oregon law was passed, 1,545 people have received legal prescriptions; 991 patients died after ingesting the medications.
When patients were asked why they decided to consider ending their lives, the most common concerns were that they were less able to engage in activities that make life enjoyable, and that they were losing both autonomy and dignity. Further down the list were inadequate pain control and the financial impact of the treatment.
Doctors As聽Healers
But Denver physician Alan Rastrelli opposes the proposal. He worries it will erode the public鈥檚 trust in doctors as healers.
鈥淧hysicians will go towards this philosophy of assisting a patient in their death,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat will destroy, I think, the patient and physician relationship.鈥�
Dr. Alan Rastrelli, a hospice and palliative care physician, says Proposition 106 will erode the doctor-patient relationship. (John Daley/CPR)
Rastrelli, who practiced anesthesiology for 28 years, transitioned into hospice and palliative medicine 15 years ago. He says when doctors help patients end their lives, it creates a societal and bioethical calamity.
Rastrelli worries about what the initiative doesn鈥檛 do, such as require a physician to be present when the person dies. He also said it鈥檚 difficult to know about common problems or mistakes because reporting requirements in Oregon, and in Colorado鈥檚 proposal, are weak.
He advocates helping dying patients to use pain relievers and receive spiritual and psychological support to ease suffering.
鈥淲oody Allen said, 鈥業鈥檓 not afraid of dying, I just don鈥檛 want to be there when it happens,鈥欌�� Rastrelli said. 鈥淲e can help people be OK all the way through to the end.鈥�
That makes a lot of sense to advocates with , a national group run by people with disabilities that opposes the proposal.
Anita Cameron, one of the group鈥檚 board members, said doctors 鈥渁re humans and they make mistakes.鈥�
Cameron鈥檚 mother, Alice, was diagnosed with end-stage chronic lung disease seven years ago. She was given less than six months to live. Today, Cameron鈥檚 mother is still alive.
鈥淗ad the law been in place, I鈥檓 pretty sure those doctors would have convinced my mom to take the pills,鈥� Cameron said. 鈥淎nd she鈥檇 be dead.鈥�
Cameron has several disabilities, including multiple sclerosis. She worries that the ballot proposal will encourage people with disabilities to kill themselves. She also thinks that in some cases, insurers will agree to pay for end-of-life medications, but not for measures to keep someone alive.
鈥淲hen is it going to be a duty to die?鈥� asked Cameron. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what euthanasia is, and when is it going to stop being a choice?鈥�
Anita Cameron, a board member of the group 鈥淣ot Dead Yet,鈥� opposes Proposition 106. (John Daley/CPR)
Battle Draws Big Bucks
The ballot initiative is drawing passion 鈥� and plenty of money.
According to the latest filings with the Colorado Secretary of State鈥檚 office, backers have raised about $5.6 million, mostly from Compassion & Choices Action Network.
The 鈥淣o Assisted Suicide Colorado鈥� campaign has raised $2.4 million. That money is primarily coming from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver, which has donated $1.1聽million, as well as other archdioceses around the country.
Both sides聽have also received numerous smaller donations.
The board of the Colorado Medical Society, the state鈥檚 largest physician group, voted to take a neutral position on the measure, just as did last year. President-elect Dr. Katie Lozano calls the proposal 鈥渢he most personal of decisions that must be left to our patients鈥� to decide.
A February of 618 Colorado physicians before the ballot measure was proposed found support within the group for physician-assisted death in general. Fifty-six percent of medical society members favored it; 35 percent opposed.
Among those who frequently treat patients in later stages of a terminal illness, the gap was smaller, with 50 percent backing physician-assisted death and 41 percent opposing it.
The medical society said there was a consensus that if the law were to pass, it聽should focus on protecting patients and doctors, and increasing awareness of end-of-life choices, emphasizing the importance of palliative and hospice care.
Election ballots in Colorado started聽being mailed last week.
This story is part of a partnership that includes , and Kaiser Health News.
KHN鈥檚 coverage of end-of-life and serious illness issues is supported by .