Legislation

* § 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.

* NB Effective August 5, 2026