2021 New Jersey Revised Statutes
Title 26 - Health and Vital Statistics
Section 26:16-3 - Definitions relative to medical aid in dying for the terminally ill.

26:16-3 Definitions relative to medical aid in dying for the terminally ill.

3. As used in P.L.2019, c.59 (C.26:16-1 et al.):

"Adult" means an individual who is 18 years of age or older.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"Health care facility" means a health care facility licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.).

"Health care professional" means a person licensed to practice a health care profession pursuant to Title 45 of the Revised Statutes.

"Health care provider" means a health care professional or health care facility.

"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:

(1) the patient's medical diagnosis;

(2) the patient's prognosis;

(3) the potential risks associated with taking the medication to be prescribed;

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

(5) the 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.

"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.).

"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.

"Mental health care professional" means a psychiatrist, psychologist, or clinical social worker licensed pursuant to Title 45 of the Revised Statutes.

"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.

"Patient" means a person who is under the care of a physician.

"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.

"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.).

"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.

L.2019, c.59, s.3.