{"data":{"id":"us-nj/n.j.-stat.-26-16-3","jurisdiction":"us-nj","citation":"N.J. Stat. § 26:16-3","heading":"Definitions relative to medical aid in dying for the terminally ill.","body":"3.\tAs used in P.L.2019, c.59 (C.26:16-1 et al.):\n\"Adult\" means an individual who is 18 years of age or older.\n\"Attending physician\" means a physician licensed pursuant to Title 45 of the Revised Statutes who has primary responsibility for the treatment and care of a qualified terminally ill patient and treatment of the patient's illness, disease, or condition.\n\"Capable\" means having the capacity to make health care decisions and to communicate them to a health care provider, including communication through persons familiar with the patient's manner of communicating if those persons are available.\n\"Consulting physician\" means a physician licensed pursuant to Title 45 of the Revised Statutes who is qualified by specialty or experience to make a professional diagnosis and prognosis regarding a patient's illness, disease, or condition.\n\"Health care facility\" means a health care facility licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.).\n\"Health care professional\" means a person licensed to practice a health care profession pursuant to Title 45 of the Revised Statutes.\n\"Health care provider\" means a health care professional or health care facility.\n\"Informed decision\" means a decision by a qualified terminally ill patient to request and obtain a prescription for medication that the patient may choose to self-administer to end the patient's life in a humane and dignified manner, which is based on an appreciation of the relevant facts and after being fully informed by the attending physician of:\n(1)\tthe patient's medical diagnosis;\n(2)\tthe patient's prognosis;\n(3)\tthe potential risks associated with taking the medication to be prescribed;\n(4)\tthe probable result of taking the medication to be prescribed; and\n(5)\tthe feasible alternatives to taking the medication, including, but not limited to, concurrent or additional treatment opportunities, palliative care, comfort care, hospice care, and pain control.\n\"Long-term care facility\" means a nursing home, assisted living residence, comprehensive personal care home, residential health care facility, or dementia care home licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.).\n\"Medically confirmed\" means that the medical opinion of the attending physician has been confirmed pursuant to section 7 of P.L.2019, c.59 (C.26:16-7) by a consulting physician who has examined the patient and the patient's relevant medical records.\n\"Mental health care professional\" means a psychiatrist, psychologist, or clinical social worker licensed pursuant to Title 45 of the Revised Statutes.\n\"Participate in this act\" means to perform the duties of a health care provider in accordance with the provisions of P.L.2019, c.59 (C.26:16-1 et al.), but does not include: making an initial determination that a patient is terminally ill and informing the patient of the medical prognosis; providing information about the provisions of P.L.2019, c.59 (C.26:16-1 et al.) to a patient upon the patient's request; or providing a patient, upon the patient's request, with a referral to another health care provider.\n\"Patient\" means a person who is under the care of a physician.\n\"Qualified terminally ill patient\" means a capable adult who is a resident of New Jersey and has satisfied the requirements to obtain a prescription for medication pursuant to P.L.2019, c.59 (C.26:16-1 et al.).  A person shall not be considered to be a qualified terminally ill patient solely because of the person's age or disability or a diagnosis of any specific illness, disease, or condition.\n\"Self-administer\" means a qualified terminally ill patient's act of physically administering, to the patient's own self, medication that has been prescribed pursuant to P.L.2019, c.59 (C.26:16-1 et al.).\n\"Terminally ill\" means that the 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.\nL.2019, c.59, s.3.","path":["TITLE 26 HEALTH AND VITAL STATISTICS"],"source_url":"https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/statutes/STATUTES-TEXT.zip","current_through":"P.L.2025, c.405, and J.R.22","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T17:54:13Z","sha256":"824e7dd8906b94b624579889f46ad6734d45232f3591dbb109244968c63d2516","source_id":"us-nj","stale":true,"prev":"us-nj/n.j.-stat.-26-16-2","next":"us-nj/n.j.-stat.-26-16-4"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}