Death With Dignity Proponent Faces Own Illness

Peter Rasmussen has written end-of-life medication prescriptions for dozens of people since the Death with Dignity Act became law in Oregon. He worked for thirty years as an oncologist and palliative care doctor in Salem, and was one of many doctors who pushed for the the law to pass here. He also wrote a brief to support the recent case before Canada's Supreme Court, which made it legal in that country for physicians to prescribe end-of-life medication to people with a terminal illness.

Last summer, Rasmussen was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. We talk to him about his own experiences thinking about Death With Dignity — both as a doctor, and as a patient.