Dying with Dignity in New Jersey: New Jersey’s Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act
New Jersey residents should be aware that on August 1, 2019, New Jersey’s Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act went into effect. The Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act permits qualified terminally ill patients to self-administer medication to end their life in a humane and dignified manner. Both patients and physicians are protected by several safeguards built into the recently enacted New Jersey statute.
The patient must be a New Jersey resident who is at least 18 years of age and can document his or her residency with a driver’s license or identification card issued by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission; a New Jersey resident gross income tax return filed for the most recent year; or other government record that demonstrates residency. The patient must be able to communicate health care decisions and be capable of making informed decisions. The patient’s attending physician and consulting physician will make the determination regarding a patient’s mental capacity. Finally, the patient must be terminally ill, as defined in the statute. If a patient is in the terminal stage of an irreversibly fatal illness, disease, or condition with a prognosis, based upon reasonable medical certainty, of a life expectancy of six months or less, he or she will be considered “terminally ill” under the statute.
Some of the requirements for the attending physician include: (i) examining the patient and confirming that the patient is terminally ill; (ii) informing the patient of the feasible alternatives to taking the life-ending medication, including, but not limited to: concurrent or additional treatment opportunities, palliative care, comfort care, hospice care and pain control; (iii) referring the patient to a consulting physician for medical confirmation of the diagnosis and prognosis and a determination that the patient is capable of decision-making and is acting voluntarily; (iv) referring the patient to counseling with a mental health care professional; and (v) recommending the patient participate in consultation regarding the alternatives to self-administering the life-ending medication.
Prior to providing a prescription for the medication, the physician is required to recommend that the patient notify their next of kin. Whether the patient decides to withhold notice to their next of kin is left entirely up to the patient. The patient must make two oral requests and one valid written request, in the written form set forth in the statute, to their attending physician to receive a prescription for the life-ending medication.
The State of New Jersey is now the 8th state in the United States to enact a compassionate death with dignity statute. Presently, each of California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, New Jersey, Maine (will be effective in September 2019), Oregon, Vermont, and Washington have death with dignity statutes. The State of Montana relies on case law to permit physician-assisted deaths.
Should you wish to receive additional information, or if you have any questions relating to this topic, we invite you to contact our firm’s Private Clients Services and/or Health Care Practice Groups for further discussion.