Lucia Silecchia , professor, law, was interviewed on WAMU Metro Connection about the assisted suicide debate in D.C. See below.
From: WAMU Metro Connection Date: Nov. 6, 2015 Author: Violet IKonomova
... The bill requires two doctors to confirm the patient requesting the prescription is terminally ill and mentally competent. It requires two witnesses to sign off on the request, though only one of them has to be a disinterested witness. It does not require that anyone be present at the time the drug is ingested.
Lucia Silecchia, a law professor at Catholic University believes that leaves the door open for coercion.
"[One] witness could be somebody who stands to benefit financially from the death of the person, either through their will, through their life insurance," said Silecchia. "[And because] there's no requirement anybody be present while [the drug] is administered... that person could have the vial of medicine in their home and be coerced by a family member into taking it or could be given it without knowing what it is." ...
Read more about Silecchia's expertise .