Assisted suicide prescriptions in Oregon hit record high in 2025

The latest data for the U.S. state of Oregon, where assisted suicide is legal, shows that a record number of people received assisted suicide prescriptions last year. It also recorded the second-highest number of yearly deaths from assisted suicide, with that number likely to be adjusted even higher.

The state of Oregon in the United States legalised assisted suicide in 1998. Since then 3,691 have died by assisted suicide, with 400 people having died in this way in 2025. This means that 1% of all deaths in Oregon were a result of assisted suicide.

Of those 400 deaths, only 120 of them had a medical professional present. As a result, it is impossible to know if there were complications from the remaining 280 cases. For those where a medical professional was present, complications (such as the patient having trouble ingesting the lethal substance) happened in just under 6% of the cases.

It is quite possible that the number of deaths will increase as the figures are updated to include deaths up to 23 January 2026, as has been the case in previous years. The total number of deaths, therefore, could be higher and might even exceed 2024’s total of 421, which was the highest number of any year.

The vast majority who ended their life by assisted suicide (89%) cited a reduced ability “to engage in activities making life enjoyable” in their decision, while a similar number spoke about concerns about “losing autonomy”. 65% of those who died this way said they were concerned about loss of dignity, while two in five reported concerns about being a burden on friends, family, and caregivers.

Catherine Robinson from Right To Life UK, who reported on the figures, said: “One of the most shocking aspects of the data from Oregon is that the end-of-life concerns for those who ended their lives by assisted suicide are not treatable by death, but by a higher quality of care and support in life. Sadly, around 40% of people reported concerns about being a burden on family and friends. The focus must be on palliative care and not on helping these vulnerable adults to end their lives”.

“Equally shocking is the apparent lack of medical oversight, as … in the majority of cases, no medical professional was present at the time of death. What exactly happened, how long it took the person to die, and whether there were complications are largely unknown. The potential for abuse and coercion here is very real and should be deeply alarming to other countries, such as our own, who are considering introducing assisted suicide,” she added.