New York's Medical Aid in Dying Act: What the Law Requires

New York's Medical Aid in Dying Act was signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul on February 6, 2026, and takes effect on August 5, 2026. The law gives terminally ill New Yorkers with decision-making capacity the legal right to request a prescription for medication they can self-administer to end their lives peacefully. It is one of the most carefully constructed medical aid in dying laws in the country, reflecting years of advocacy, legislative debate, and a deliberate negotiation between the governor and the legislature over how to balance patient autonomy with strong safeguards.

Understanding those safeguards, what is required, in what order, and by whom, is essential for any patient or family considering this option. This post walks through the law's requirements step by step and explains exactly how Quiĕtus can help coordinate that process so that patients and families are not navigating it alone.

Who qualifies: the eligibility requirements

To be eligible for medical aid in dying under New York law, a person must meet all of the following criteria:

• They must be 18 years of age or older. The law does not extend to minors under any circumstances.

• They must be a resident of New York State. 

• They must have a terminal illness, one that is incurable and irreversible and that, within reasonable medical judgment, will produce death within six months. This prognosis must be confirmed by two independent physicians: the attending physician and a separate consulting physician.

• They must have decision-making capacity at the time of each request, and at the time of ingestion: the ability to understand and communicate a health care decision, to understand its nature and consequences, and to make it voluntarily and free from coercion.

• They must have the physical ability to self-administer the medication. Under New York's law, the act of taking the medication must be performed by the patient. No physician, nurse, family member, or other person may administer it. This is an absolute requirement, and it means that patients who lose the physical capacity to self-administer before they take the medication — even if they completed every step of the process and received a prescription — would no longer be able to use it.

  
  

The request process: what must happen

The law requires a patient to complete multiple steps before a prescription can be written. These steps are designed to ensure that the decision is voluntary, informed, and thoroughly documented.

The patient must make at least one oral request to their attending physician, and that request must be recorded by audio or video. This is one of the specific guardrails negotiated by Governor Hochul and the legislature. The recording requirement serves as a contemporaneous, unambiguous record that the patient made the request themselves, in their own words, in a way that can be reviewed if questions arise later.

The patient must also complete a written request. The written request must be signed and dated by the patient and witnessed by two adults. Those witnesses must be disinterested; they may not be relatives by blood or marriage, potential heirs, anyone with a financial interest in the patient's death, or anyone affiliated with the facility where the patient is receiving care. The governor's guardrails also explicitly prohibit anyone who may benefit financially from the patient's death from serving as a witness or as an interpreter for the patient.

Two physicians, the attending physician and a consulting physician, must separately confirm the patient's terminal diagnosis, the six-month prognosis, the patient's decision-making capacity, and that the request is voluntary.

The mandatory mental health evaluation

One of the most significant features of New York's law — and one that distinguishes it from medical aid in dying statutes in many other states — is that a mental health evaluation is mandatory for every patient, not only for those whose physicians have concerns about their capacity.

The evaluation must be conducted by a psychologist, psychiatrist, or neurologist. It focuses specifically on the patient's decision-making capacity in the context of medical aid in dying: whether the patient understands the nature of their terminal illness, understands what the medication will do, understands the alternatives available to them, and is making this choice voluntarily and free from coercion.

It is important to be clear about what this evaluation is not. It is not a general psychiatric assessment. It is not a screening for whether a patient is depressed or anxious; many terminally ill people are both, and understandably so. Having a psychiatric diagnosis, being on psychotropic medication, or experiencing profound grief does not disqualify a patient. The question the evaluator is answering is a specific one: does this person, at this moment, have the capacity to make this particular decision? A skilled evaluator understands that distinction and approaches the evaluation accordingly.

Because this evaluation is required for every patient, it is not an obstacle to clear, it is simply a step in the process. Quiĕtus coordinates this evaluation with licensed psychologists on our panel who have specific training in medical aid in dying capacity evaluations under New York law.

The prescription

After the prescription is written, there is a mandatory 5-day waiting period before the prescription can be dispensed by a pharmacy. This waiting period runs from the time the prescription is written to the time it can be filled — not from the time of the initial request. A patient can change their mind and rescind the request at any point during or after this process, up until the moment they take the medication.

The medication and what self-administration means

Once the prescription is written and the 5-day waiting period has elapsed, the prescription can be filled by a participating pharmacy. Not all pharmacies in New York will fill aid in dying prescriptions, participation is voluntary, and identifying a willing pharmacy is a practical step that Quiĕtus assists with.

The medication prescribed for medical aid in dying is typically a compounded oral preparation. When taken, it produces unconsciousness rapidly, followed by cessation of breathing and cardiac function. The process is peaceful and the patient usually loses consciousness within a few minutes and then dies a few hours after ingestion. Many people who have witnessed it describe it as a quiet and humane death.

The patient must be the one to take the medication. The self-administration requirement is absolute. Family members, friends, and clinicians may be present, or the patient may choose to be alone or with a smaller group. The choice of who is present belongs entirely to the patient. There is no requirement that a physician or nurse practitioner be present, though we strongly recommend it

Receiving the prescription does not commit the patient to using it. Many people who complete the full process and obtain the medication never take it. For those patients, simply having the option, knowing the medication is there if the suffering becomes unbearable, provides a comfort that allows them to live more fully in the time remaining. The prescription does not obligate anyone to anything.

What Quiĕtus does: care coordination across the full process

Medical aid in dying under New York law involves a sequence of clinical, legal, and logistical steps that must be completed in the right order, on a timeline that respects both the statutory requirements and the patient's prognosis and condition. For a person who is terminally ill, and for their family, managing that sequence while simultaneously coping with illness and grief is a significant burden.

Quiĕtus exists to carry that burden. We are not the prescribing physician, the consulting physician, or the evaluating psychologist. We are the team that connects all of those pieces, ensures they happen correctly and in sequence, and makes sure the patient and family understand what is happening and what comes next.

When a patient comes to us, we begin with a comprehensive intake. We review the patient's medical situation, assess whether they appear to meet the eligibility criteria, answer their questions about the process, and discuss their goals and timeline. We do this with honesty and without rushing — a first conversation with Quiĕtus is not a commitment to anything. It is an opportunity to understand what is available and what is involved.

We then work with the patient to identify or confirm an attending physician who is trained and willing to participate. If the patient's own physician is not participating, we connect them with physicians in our network who are. We facilitate the exchange of medical records, coordinate the scheduling of the in-person initial evaluation, and document the oral request process, including ensuring the audio or video recording requirement is met.

We coordinate the written request, assist with identifying two qualifying witnesses, and ensure the statutory form is completed correctly. We coordinate the consulting physician evaluation, scheduling it and facilitating the records exchange necessary for an independent assessment. We coordinate the mandatory mental health evaluation with a licensed psychologist from our panel, ensuring the evaluating psychologist has all relevant clinical documentation in advance and that the signed evaluation report is returned to the care team promptly.

We track the dates and sequence of all steps, including the 5-day waiting period between prescription and dispensing, and we assist in identifying a participating pharmacy. Throughout the process, we work closely with the patient's family, helping them understand each step, preparing them for what the day of the death may look like, and answering the questions they may not know how to ask elsewhere.

 This post was reviewed and verified by Daniel Cogan, NP