Colorado Revised Statutes in Support of Palliative Care Limiting Criminal Liability

Abstract

Colorado's manslaughter law classifies assisted suicide as a felony. Because terminal patients are close to life's end, death while being treated is inevitable, therefore, there was concern among physicians that the fear of prosecution continued to prevent adequate pain relief for terminal patients. A group of physicians and concerned citizens set out to amend Colorado Revised Statutes to reassure doctors and others prescribing or administering palliative care for terminal patients that they would not be indicted under the law prohibiting assisted suicide. The 2006 Assembly passed the amendment (quoted in the text) with virtually no opposition in either house and it was signed into law by the governor, effective July 6, 2006. Note that in addition to allowing appropriate pain management, it specifically emphasizes that it does not permit assisted suicide.