Washington State Death with Dignity Act

The Washington Death with Dignity Act, Initiative 1000, codified as RCW 70.245, passed on November 4, 2008 and went into effect on March 5, 2009. This act allows terminally ill adults seeking to end their life to request lethal doses of medication from medical and osteopathic physicians. These terminally ill patients must be Washington residents who have less than six months to live.

Under the Death with Dignity Act, the Department of Health collects information from healthcare providers, reviews this information for compliance with reporting requirements, contacts the healthcare provider if the information is incomplete or inadequate, and produces an annual statistical report. The information collected from healthcare providers is not a public record and will only be released as summarized data in the annual statistical report.

Data Release (47KB PDF)
2009 Death with Dignity Act Report (306KB PDF)
2010 Death with Dignity Act Report (306KB PDF)

In addition, the Washington State Hospital Association has a web page with helpful information concerning the Death with Dignity Act.

Initiative Measure 1000- Death with Dignity Act (211KB PDF)

Chapter 70.245 RCW

Chapter 246.978 WAC