N.Y. Public Health Law § 2899-e: Request process

§ 2899-e. Request process. 1. Oral and written request. A patient

wishing to request medication under this article shall make an oral

request and submit a written request to the patient's attending

physician. If a patient is not physically capable of making an oral

request, such request can be made using an alternative method of

communication familiar to the patient. Oral requests made under this

subdivision must be recorded by an audio or video device and permanently

stored in the patient's medical record.

2. Making a written request. A patient may make a written request for

and consent to self-administer medication for the purpose of ending such

patient's life in accordance with this article if the patient:

(a) has been determined by the attending physician to have a terminal

illness or condition and which has been medically confirmed by a

consulting physician; and

(b) based on an informed decision, requests voluntarily, of the

patient's own volition and without coercion, medication to end such

patient's life.

3. Written request signed and witnessed. (a) A written request for

medication under this article shall be signed and dated by the patient

and witnessed by at least two adults who, in the presence of the

patient, attest that to the best of the persons knowledge and belief the

patient has decision-making capacity, is acting voluntarily, is making

the request for medication of the patient's own volition and is not

being coerced to sign the request. The written request shall be in

substantially the form described in section twenty-eight hundred

ninety-nine-k of this article.

(b) Both witnesses shall be adults who are not:

(i) a relative of the patient by blood, marriage or adoption;

(ii) a person who at the time the request is signed would be entitled

to any portion of the estate of the patient upon death under any will or

by operation of law or would otherwise benefit financially from the

death of the patient;

(iii) an owner, operator, employee or independent contractor of a

health care facility where the patient is receiving treatment or is a

resident;

(iv) a domestic partner of the patient, as defined in subdivision

seven of section twenty-nine hundred ninety-four-a of this chapter;

(v) an agent under the patient's health care proxy as defined in

subdivision five of section twenty-nine hundred eighty of this chapter;

or

(vi) an agent acting under a power of attorney for the patient as

defined in section 5-1501 of the general obligations law.

(c) The attending physician, consulting physician and the mental

health professional who provides a decision-making capacity

determination of the patient under this article shall not be a witness.

4. No person shall qualify for medical aid in dying under this article

solely because of age or disability.

5. Requests for a medical aid-in-dying prescription must be made by

the qualified individual and may not be made by any other individual,

including the qualified individual's health care agent, or other agent

or surrogate, or via advance healthcare directive.