Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. letter to Mr. M., February 4, 2000

ROBERT L. EHRLICH, JR. ASSISTANT DEPUTY MAJORITY WHIP Congress ot tf )t ®mtei> States %)ош ot iRepttecntattoW MJaebington, 2ЭС 20515-2002 February 4, 2000 Lutherville. MO 21093 Thank you for contacting me regarding 8 legislative measures that were passed during the last session of Congress. I appreciate knowing your interest in these bills. The bills you supported, with the exception of H.R. 2260, were all considered by the House of Representatives during the week of October 18, 1999. These seven bills were brought to the House floor under suspension of the rules and passed overwhelmingly. H.R. 2260, introduced by Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL) amends the Controlled Substances Act to promote pain management and palliative care without permitting assisted suicide and euthanasia. I opposed the bill which passed the House of Representatives on October 27, 1999 and now awaits action by the Senate. Specifically, H.R. 2260 makes two changes to federal drug law as it relates to the use of controlled substances by terminally ill patients. First, the bill clarifies that controlled substances may be used to alleviate pain in the course of providing palliative care to terminally ill patients. Additionally, the bill funds research and education on the appropriate use of controlled substances for this purpose. I strongly support these provisions of the bill. Second, H.R. 2260 states that the use of controlled substances to assist a terminally ill person in committing suicide is not authorized by federal law. The effect of this bill is to add assisted suicide to the list of Federal crimes under the Controlled Substance Act which carry a mandatory 20-year jail sentence. Further, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is authorized to investigate physicians’ subjective intent to determine whether a prescription was intended to manage pain or to terminate a life. I believe pain management should be addressed from a medical perspective rather than law enforcement. To be sure, the DEA has neither the expertise nor the resources to play doctor. While H.R. 2260 is well intentioned, it is counterproductive. This legislation allegedly creates a safe harbor for those who administer pain medications to chronically and terminally ill patients. However, rather than promote pain management and palliative care, it will have a chilling effect on aggressive pain management. Ironically, this bill will deter doctors from treating pain due to