California Suicide Kit Granny Gets Fine & Suspended Sentence

The jury's finally in for the California 92-year-old granny who was selling suicide kits on the net. Big fine, suspended jail sentence.

Euthanasia Activist Grandma Gets Nailed by the IRS

If the federal government could nail Al Capone on tax charges, euthanasia device maker Sharlotte Hydorn, 92, didn't stand a chance.

Hydorn, of El Cajon, Calif., pleaded guilty last week in federal court to a charge of failing to file federal income tax returns since 2007 on $150,000 in earnings from various sources, including the profits from selling kits designed to help people end their lives. more

California Granny Agrees To End Suicide Kit Sales

Here's the final resolution to an ongoing saga that eventually got the attention of authorities in Oregon - a California grandma who was selling sucide kits over the internet. She's finally agreed to stop doing so.

San Diego-area suicide kit seller agrees to stop sale of devices

A former schoolteacher who sold suicide kits that she once touted as leaving people "eternally sleepy" pleaded guilty Friday to a tax evasion charge and agreed to stop encouraging people to commit suicide. more

Chuckle: Police Think They're Preventing A Suicide, BUT . . .

There's not much to chuckle about on this blog, but occasionally something comes up that generates a smile. A while back a California granny was doing quite good business selling suicide kits to people in Oregon. The authorities were horrified - why I have no idea, because assisted sucide is legal in Oregon. Here’s the story of heavy handed cops thinking they were saving someone from using the suicide kit, but . . . . read on.

FBI, police seek to reach buyers of suicide kits

FBI agents investigating the sale of suicide kits by an elderly California woman alerted authorities in Oregon of a man there who had bought one of the devices, prompting local police to storm his home in a bid to save his life. more

Oregon: Assisted Suicide Legal But Not Suicide Kits

OK, let me get this straight - Oregon has legalized assisted suicide but has now banned anyone buying substances or contraptions to make death happen. This all started when a 91-year-old California granny was found to be making a tidy sum selling assisted sucide kits to Oregon citizens.

Oregon Governor Signs Bill Banning Sale of Suicide Kits

Governor John Kitzhaber has put the state of Oregon in the position of allowing assisted suicide but stopping the sale of so-called suicide kits — hoods or other items people can use to kill themselves.

Oregon is the first state to pass legislation prohibiting the kits and the new law goes into effect immediately now that Kitzhaber has signed it into law. The new law makes it a Class B felony to “knowingly sell, or otherwise transfer for consideration, any substance or object to another person for the purpose of assisting the other person to commit suicide” and those who violate the law face 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. more

Oregon To Ban Assisted Killing Kits

After much handwringing it looks like Oregon is going to ban the sale of assisted killing kits. The jury is still out as to the fate of the 91 year-old granny who was selling these kits on the internet.

Oregon Bill Set to Kill Sale of Suicide Kits

The legal sale of "Do-It-Yourself" suicide kits in Oregon may well be on its last leg. The issue of assisted suicide has been in the news recently, most notably in the western states of California, Washington and Oregon. Prominent proponents of the practice such as the recently passed Dr. Kevorkian and the California woman who is currently on the front lines of the debate, often find themselves on the razor's edge of the law. more