During the short and unsettled lifespan of California’s End of Life Option Act—signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown in October 2015, and taking effect on June 9, 2016—terminally ill patients diagnosed as having no more than six months left to live have become the targets of repeated legal challenges, leaving their precious final days in this world unsettled and unclear.
The fate of the law has been particularly unsettled since May 15, when Riverside County Superior Court Judge Daniel Ottolia ruled the law was invalid on the grounds that it was passed unconstitutionally during a special session of the California Legislature. During the session, Gov. Jerry Brown directed legislators to enact legislation that would improve healthcare for the state’s citizens. As result of Judge Ottolia’s ruling, participating physicians were barred from writing prescriptions for sanctioned life-ending drugs, while pharmacists were forbidden from providing those drugs to qualifying patients.
A couple of weeks later, Ottolia denied a motion filed by two terminally ill adults and one physician requesting that he vacate his earlier ruling to invalidate the law. But on June 15, the state’s 4th District Court of Appeal granted a stay of Ottolia’s ruling following emergency motions filed by the two patients, the doctor and Attorney General Xavier Becerra. As a result, the End of Life Option Act (EOLA) remains in effect until all of the legal challenges can be resolved.