Judge dismisses assisted-suicide complaint

HELENA — A state judge has dismissed a complaint against the state Board of Medical Examiners over a position paper about assisted suicide that a group says implies the practice is legal in Montana.

District Judge Mike Menahan said in his order Friday that the board withdrew all of its position papers in September, including the one about assisted suicide, so the complaint by Montanans Against Assisted Suicide is moot.

A 2009 state Supreme Court ruling found that nothing in state law explicitly prohibits physician-assisted suicide. The state Legislature earlier this year and in 2011 failed to clarify whether the practice is legal or illegal.

The board produced its position paper after a physician requested guidance from the board about the assisted-suicide issue. The paper, issued last year, said it would evaluate complaints against doctors on an individual basis, just as it would any other medical procedure or intervention.

Montanans Against Assisted Suicide demanded the board repeal its position, saying it wrongly implies that assisted suicide is legal. The group claimed the position paper has the effect of an administrative rule — which the board lacks the authority to enact — and it issued it without notice or participation by the public.

Menahan said in his order that the board proposed to settle the case by withdrawing its position paper and removing it from the board’s website, if Montanans Against Assisted Suicide dropped its petition.