CDPH Releases 2018 Data on the End of Life Option Act July 23, 2019 Public Health California Department of Oublic Health, CDPH, EoLOA, end of life option act 0 The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) recently released the 2018 Data Report on the End of Life Option Act (EoLOA). This latest report on the End of Life Option Act covers the period from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2018, and reflects information on individuals who were prescribed aid-in-dying drugs and died in 2018, as well as cumulative counts for the period commencing January 1, 2016. New in the report this year are four data points which were not previously reported: Patient informed family of decision: 87% reported informing family; 3% did not inform family; 2% had no family to inform, and for 8% it was unknown. Class of drugs prescribed: 37% of patients were prescribed a sedative; 35% a Cardiotonic/Opioid/Sedative; 18% other; and 10% unknown. Physician or trained healthcare provider present at the time of ingestion: 54% had a physician or trained healthcare provider present; 25% did not; and for 21% it was unknown. Place of death (setting and/or location): 92% of patients died in a private home; 4% in an assisted living residence; 2% in a nursing home and 2% in an in-patient hospice residence. The report also includes cumulative data: Between June 9, 2016, when the law came into effect, and December 31, 2018, prescriptions have been written for a total of 1,108 people under the Act and 807 individuals (72.8 percent) have died from ingesting the medications. The 2018 data indicates that 452 individuals received prescriptions under the End of Life Option Act in that year. That figure appears to be down from a total of 577 individuals who received prescriptions under the Act in 2017. Other key 2018 data points include: Of the 452 individual who received prescriptions, 337 died following their ingestion of the prescribed medications, including 23 individuals who received prescriptions prior to 2018. Of those who died, 88.7 percent were 60 years of age or older, 94.4 percent had health insurance and 88.1 percent were receiving hospice and/or palliative care. CDPH is required to provide annual reports, including information on the number of prescriptions written and the number of known individuals who died using aid-in-dying drugs as part of the End of Life Option Act legislation. The data is collected from the forms that participating patients and providers are required to complete and submit to the state. The information is aggregated by CDPH to protect the privacy of the participants. More Information For general information on the EoLOA law, visit CCCC’s EoLOA page here. To view and download the 2016 and 2017 EoLOA Data Reports and access provider and patient reporting forms, visit CDPH’s EoLOA page here. Comments are closed.
