N.Y. Public Health Law § 2899-d: Definitions

§ 2899-d. Definitions. As used in this article:

1. "Adult" means an individual who is eighteen years of age or older.

2. "Attending physician" means the physician who has primary

responsibility for the care of the patient and treatment of the

patient's terminal illness or condition.

3. "Decision-making capacity" means the ability to understand and

appreciate the nature and consequences of health care decisions,

including the benefits and risks of and alternatives to any proposed

health care, including medical aid in dying, and to reach an informed

decision.

4. "Consulting physician" means a physician who is qualified by

specialty or experience to make a professional diagnosis and prognosis

regarding a patient's terminal illness or condition.

5. "Health care facility" means a general hospital, nursing home, or

residential health care facility as defined in section twenty-eight

hundred one of this chapter, or a hospice as defined in section four

thousand two of this chapter.

6. "Health care provider" means an individual licensed, certified, or

authorized by law to administer health care or dispense medication in

the ordinary course of business or practice of a profession.

7. "Informed decision" means a decision by a patient who is suffering

from a terminal illness or condition to request and obtain a

prescription for medication that the patient may self-administer to end

the patient's life that is based on an understanding and acknowledgment

of the relevant facts and that is made voluntarily, of the patient's own

volition and without coercion, after being fully informed of:

(a) the patient's medical diagnosis and prognosis;

(b) the potential risks associated with taking the medication to be

prescribed;

(c) the probable result of taking the medication to be prescribed;

(d) the possibility that the patient may choose not to obtain the

medication, or may obtain the medication but may decide not to

self-administer it; and

(e) the feasible alternatives and appropriate treatment options,

including but not limited to palliative care and hospice care.

8. "Medical aid in dying" means the medical practice of a physician

prescribing medication to a qualified individual that the individual may

choose to self-administer to bring about death.

9. "Medically confirmed" means the medical opinion of the attending

physician that a patient has a terminal illness or condition and has

made an informed decision which has been confirmed by a consulting

physician who has examined the patient and the patient's relevant

medical records.

10. "Medication" means medication prescribed by a physician under this

article.

11. "Mental health professional" means an individual (a) licensed to

practice medicine in New York state who is a diplomate of the American

board of psychiatry and neurology or is eligible to be certified by that

board or is certified by the American osteopathic board of neurology and

psychiatry or is eligible to be certified by that board; or (b) licensed

to practice psychology under title eight of the education law.

12. "Palliative care" means health care treatment, including

interdisciplinary end-of-life care, and consultation with patients and

family members, to prevent or relieve pain and suffering and to enhance

the patient's quality of life, including hospice care under article

forty of this chapter.

13. "Patient" means a resident of New York state who is eighteen years

of age or older under the care of a physician.

14. "Physician" means an individual licensed to practice medicine in

New York state.

15. "Qualified individual" means a patient with a terminal illness or

condition, who has decision-making capacity, has made an informed

decision, and has satisfied the requirements of this article in order to

obtain a prescription for medication.

16. "Self-administer" means a qualified individual's affirmative,

conscious, and voluntary act to ingest medication under this article.

Self-administration does not include lethal injection or lethal

infusion.

17. "Terminal illness or condition" means an incurable and

irreversible illness or condition that has been medically confirmed and

will, within reasonable medical judgment, produce death within six

months whether or not treatment is provided.

18. "Third-party health care payer" has its ordinary meaning and

includes, but is not limited to, an insurer, organization or corporation

licensed or certified under article thirty-two, forty-three or

forty-seven of the insurance law, or article forty-four of the public

health law; or an entity such as a pharmacy benefits manager or

third-party administrator.