“The aid-in-dying medication most often used is secobarbital, marketed under the trade name Seconal, a sedative that can be lethal in larger doses.

But when Valeant Pharmaceuticals International acquired the drug in 2015, its price skyrocketed, prompting a search for a less-expensive alternative. In Colorado, the cost for a 10-gram dose can exceed $4,000.

A three-drug combination of phenobarbital, chloral hydrate and morphine sulfate was introduced in Washington state in 2015, with a cost of about $500. That mixture, while effective, generally takes longer to work and proved so harsh that it caused some users distress.

A similarly priced version of diazepam, digoxin, morphine and propranolol, or DDMP, has been used as an alternative. That compound also runs around $500 in Colorado.”

Dec. 14, 2017