The California Department of Public Health said 577 people received aid-in-dying drugs in 2017, but not everyone used them. The law allows adults to obtain a prescription for life-ending drugs if a doctor has determined that they have six months or less to live. They can self-administer the drugs.
Of the 374 who died, about 90 percent were more than 60 years of age, about 95 percent were insured and about 83 percent were receiving hospice or similar care.
The numbers come as the law is caught up in a court battle. A judge earlier this year halted it, saying it was adopted illegally during a special legislative session. An appeals court has since reinstated it.
The figures are more than double those from the first six months after the law went into effect June 9, 2016. In those early months 191 people received life-ending drugs, while 111 people took them and died.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Daniel Ottolia ruled in May that the law is unconstitutional because it was adopted illegally when lawmakers passed it during a special Legislative session called to address other matters. The state contends that the law was legally passed during a special legislative session dedicated to health issues.
The Fourth District Court of Appeals in Riverside last week stayed that decision and reinstated the End of Life Option, but gave opponents of its decision until July 2 to file objections.