According to the latest data from the state of Colorado, less than half of the people prescribed lethal drugs meant for use in assisted suicide actually obtained them, raising major questions about assisted death in the state.

Key Takeaways:

• Colorado legalized assisted suicide in 2016.

• In 2024, Governor Jared Polis signed legislation allowing APRNs to prescribe assisted suicide drugs and reducing the waiting period.

• The 2025 Colorado assisted suicide report found that there were 580 prescriptions for assisted suicide written, but only 261 prescriptions dispensed.

The Backstory:

In the fall of 2016, Colorado citizens approved Proposition 106 (the End-of-Life Options Act) with nearly 65% of the vote, legalizing assisted suicide. Under the legislation, residents of Colorado were eligible for assisted suicide if they had a terminal illness with a prognosis of six months or less to live and the mental capacity to make an informed decision. There was also a 15-day waiting period, and only physicians could prescribe the drugs.

Then, in 2024, Governor Jared Polis signed an amendment that weakened those regulations, allowing non-physicians, such as advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), to evaluate patients and prescribe the drugs. Additionally, the waiting period was reduced from 15 days to 7 days.

Doctors or ARPNs could also waive the waiting period completely if they felt the patient was near death.

The Details:

The state of Colorado released its 2025 assisted suicide report, which found:

• a 12.4% increase in the number of assisted suicide prescriptions written, up to 580 in 2025 from 516 in 2024

• a 17.14% decrease in the number of prescriptions actually dispensed, down to 261 in 2025 from 315 in 2024

As Alex Schadenberg pointed out, this raises many questions:

So the data makes it appear that more people are receiving a poison prescription for assisted suicide but fewer people are dying by assisted suicide. Based on the data, 45% of the people in 2025 who were prescribed a poison prescription obtained the prescription. The data must be wrong. 

In 2022, 317 people were prescribed poison prescriptions and 249 (79%) were dispensed. In 2023, 398 people were prescribed poison prescriptions and 316 (77%) were dispensed. 

A new trend started in 2024 with 516 poison prescriptions written and 315 (61%) prescriptions dispensed and as has already been explained, in 2025 only (45%) of the poison prescriptions were dispensed.

Unless there has been a change in the culture, it is suspicious that 45% of the 580 people who [were prescribed] a poison prescription received the prescription. 

The question now becomes what is happening in Colorado. Are fewer people actually getting their prescriptions, or are pharmacies dispensing the medication and not reporting it?

Furthermore, the report showed an increase in people being approved for assisted suicide for "other conditions," without specifying what those conditions are. The number of people being approved for assisted suicide for anorexia is likewise increasing, though it is not a terminal illness. In 2021, just one person was approved for an eating disorder; by 2025, that number had risen to 17.

The Bottom Line:

Regulations surrounding assisted suicide are frequently weakened, leading to widespread abuses. But without complete information, it is impossible to have transparency about assisted suicide in Colorado and what issues there may be surrounding it.