Unable to choose death at home, Des Moines man goes abroad
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Rusty Martin talking from his home in Des Moines last week. Photo: Jason Clayworth/Axios
Rusty Martin, a 66-year-old retired Iowa Senate staffer with Alzheimer's, plans to die in Switzerland next week — earlier than he wants, he says, because waiting could leave him unable to make that decision.
Why it matters: Martin's case shows how U.S. aid-in-dying laws can push Alzheimer's patients to choose death sooner, before they lose the cognitive ability to choose.
Driving the news: Martin will travel to the Zurich area with family to meet with doctors and staff at the assisted-dying organization Dignitas, where he plans to die on Aug. 18 by ingesting a prescribed barbiturate dissolved in a drink.
Friction point: Martin would prefer to live longer, but doing so could cost him the mental capacity needed to receive assistance.
- "The only way to screw this up is to wait too long," Martin tells Axios.
Catch up quick: Martin spent 24 years as communications director for Iowa Senate Democrats, retiring in 2022 after several years of mounting problems, including forgetting meetings, which he now believes were early signs of the disease.
- Testing in 2023 confirmed his early-onset Alzheimer's diagnosis.
What they're saying: Martin tells Axios that the U.S. health care system focuses on keeping people alive amid years of decline, leaving families to absorb major financial, physical and emotional costs.
- Martin's wife, Kay Meyer, said that if he had been able to choose the timing at home, the family might have had him through Christmas or longer.
- "About a month ago, I'm like, 'Man, you know you don't have to go. I'd take care of you until the end. I'm here for you. I want you to stay,'" Meyer said.
State of play: Assisting in a suicide is a felony under Iowa law.
- Iowa lawmakers have introduced medical aid-in-dying bills multiple times, but none has passed.
The big picture: Countries including Switzerland, Canada, the Netherlands and Belgium offer pathways that can allow some people with Alzheimer's to seek assisted death, though eligibility and residency rules vary.
- U.S. laws usually require capacity, self-administration and a six-month terminal prognosis.
- 13 states and Washington, D.C., have authorized medical aid in dying. Illinois' law will take effect in September.
By the numbers: In 2026, 7.4 million Americans age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's, according to Alzheimer's Association estimates.
The other side: Opponents of assisted suicide say the laws undermine medicine's role in preserving life and could pressure older, disabled or financially vulnerable people to die.
- The Iowa Catholic Conference has opposed proposals in the state, saying they would violate the dignity of human life and that patients should instead receive counseling and hospice and palliative care.
What we're watching: Whether Martin's story revives Iowa's long-stalled debate over medical aid in dying.
Worthy of your time: Martin's end-of-life op-ed