SEN. HATCH SEEKS HELP IN BLOCKING SUICIDE LAW

* Federal officials oppose a bill that prohibits doctors from prescribing
certain drugs, but the senator wants them to offer an alternative

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, coaxed and prodded the Clinton
administration Friday to work with Congress in trying to block Oregon's
physician-assisted suicide law.

The administration, weighing in for the first time on the fate of Oregon's
law, has decided to oppose anti-assisted suicide legislation now in
Congress. Its testimony Friday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which
Hatch leads, puts a significant barrier in the path of Hatch and his allies.

Hatch emphasized the common ground between President Clinton and many
members of Congress in opposing assisted suicide. He chastised the
administration for criticizing current legislation while not offering its
own solution.

"I don't just want analysis," Hatch told Justice Department officials
representing the administration. "I want help."

The bill before Hatch's committee, introduced by Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla.,
would forbid doctors from prescribing federally controlled drugs to help
terminally ill patients end their lives. Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill.,
introduced a similar bill in the House.

Despite Hatch's persistence in seeking cooperation, he appeared to make
little progress. By the end of the 2BD-hour hearing, he had received only
vague assurances that administration officials would work with him to
determine the federal government's appropriate role in responding to the
unique Oregon law.

The hearing illustrated how far apart Congress and the Clinton
administration are in the assisted-suicide debate.

While both the House and Senate have pushed to enact anti-assisted suicide
legislation this year, the administration has said little since Attorney
General Janet Reno ruled in June that federal officials cannot discipline
doctors who prescribe lethal drugs under Oregon's Death With Dignity Act.

Still, Nickles, the Senate's assistant majority leader, testified Friday
that he intends to press aggressively to make sure such legislation becomes
law this year.

Friday's hearing was the Senate's first on the bill, which Nickles
introduced soon after the Reno decision.

As with an earlier House subcommittee hearing, several witnesses testified
that they oppose the bill because they think it would scare doctors away
from prescribing the high doses of pain medication that dying patients
often require. They explained that doctors fear the doses might
unintentionally cause a patient's death, leading to scrutiny by the Drug
Enforcement Administration.

But, Nickles responded, "We don't want to do that in any shape or form."

A Michigan physician, Dr. Walter H. Hunter, agreed that the concerns were
unfounded. He said he supports the legislation.

"Nothing in this bill will change what I do daily in my work as a hospice
physician," said Hunter, South Oakland County medical director for Hospice
of Michigan.

DEA Administrator Thomas A. Constantine reiterated his opinion, written in
letters to Hatch and Hyde in November, that the Controlled Substances Act
authorizes the DEA to sanction doctors for dispensing drugs to assist in
suicide.

Since Reno overruled him by saying that federal law does not override the
Oregon law, "DEA respects and has abided by the attorney general's
determination," Constantine testified. The DEA is a branch of Reno's
Justice Department.

The Justice Department sent a letter to Hatch on Thursday detailing its
opposition to the Nickles bill, including concerns that the legislation
would divert the DEA's attention and resources from its core mission of
preventing the abuse, diversion and trafficking of drugs.

The letter also said that having the DEA decide if a doctor used medication
to assist in a suicide "is far afield from the DEA's role as envisaged by
Congress and as carried by the agency."

Joseph N. Onek, a Justice Department official, mentioned several of the
Justice Department concerns while testifying Friday.

Onek said physician-assisted suicide is an issue of such magnitude that it
should be decided either by legislative bodies or a vote of the people.

He said the Justice Department sees significant differences between
Oregon's assisted-suicide law and a medical marijuana law passed by
California voters.

Congress has specifically addressed the marijuana issue, making the drug a
Schedule 1 controlled substance, meaning it has no legitimate medical use,
he said.

"When Congress speaks, when the national legislature speaks, in those
strong terms, that is binding on the states," Onek said. "And that is why,
as you know, we have disapproved and fought in every possible legal way the
California effort to legalize marijuana for medical purposes."

But, as to the drugs used in assisted suicide, "Congress has not spoken and
said that those drugs can't be used for any purpose, including assisted
suicide, and that is the difference," Onek said.

But Hatch said authority over doctors prescribing drugs for assisted
suicide seemed well within the DEA's mission.

"We're talking about using otherwise legal drugs to kill people, to take
their lives," Hatch said. "I can't imagine a more important area for the
DEA to have an interest in."

After the hearing, Hatch said he remains optimistic that Congress will be
able to enact anti-assisted suicide legislation before it adjourns in October.

The House Judiciary Committee announced Friday that it will meet Tuesday to
consider whether to forward assisted-suicide legislation to a vote by the
full House. The hearing was postponed this week.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski