Watch CBS News

California Woman With ALS Holds Party Before Killing Herself

SAN DIEGO (AP) - A California woman with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, held a two-day party for her friends and relatives to say goodbye before taking her life with a dose of prescribed drugs.

Betsy Davis, 41, became one of the first Californians to make use a new state law allowing doctor-assisted suicide. Four other states have such laws, with Oregon the first in 1997.

Davis shared her plans with her guests, giving them a detailed schedule for the weekend that included the hour she planned to slip into a coma.

There were cocktails. There was pizza from her favorite local joint. There was a screening of one of her favorite movies. And then her friends said their goodbyes and left.

Davis was wheeled out to a canopy bed on a hillside and took her own life.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.