A recently-conducted survey revealed that the Death with Dignity Act enacted in Oregon in 1997 doesn’t actually prevent patients with depression from receiving a prescription for a lethal drug.

Researchers at Oregon Health and Science University found out that most of those who ask for physician aid in dying aren’t actually suffering from clinical depression. There are a small number of patients affected by clinical depression who are able to access lethal medications according to lead investigator Dr. Linda Ganzini.

According to the study, just one in four patients who request physician-assisted suicide suffer from clinical depression, the rest are affected by the simpler form of depression which is treatable.

The Death with Dignity Act allows terminally ill patients to commit suicide by using a lethal dose of medications. They must request the dose from doctors who may prescribe the medication for that specific purpose.

The study, reported in the Online First issue of the British Medical Journal, included 58 Oregon patients who requested physician-assisted suicide. After standard interviews, the research team found out that only 25% of the patients were actually clinically depressed. In other words, 13 of the 58 patients were diagnosed with anxiety.

Of those patients who requested physician-assisted suicide and killed themselves, 15 were not suffering from clinical depression and only 3 were clinically depressed. All the patients were suffering from terminal illness, usually cancer or ALS. Forty-two people died by the end of the study.

"The current practice of the Death with Dignity Act may not adequately protect all mentally ill patients," Ganzini told Reuters Health.