Palliative Care Act is law in New York
A bill recently signed into law in New York state will require a patient's health care provider to provide information and counseling to that patient on palliative care, prognosis, and end-of-life options, once the patient is diagnosed with a terminal illness.
If the provider determines that a patient lacks decision-making capacity, the provider must give that information orally or in writing to the patient's surrogate.
Compassion & Choices drafted and sponsored the act, according to Compassion & Choices President Barbara Coombs Lee. The legislation was opposed in New York by the New York Medical Society; however, no representative of that organization was available to speak to AHC Media, publisher of Hospice Management Advisor.
Lee says this is the second state in which this type of law has been passed, with California being the first in 2008. Compassion and Choices has sponsored the Death with Dignity Acts in Oregon and Washington and fought for its passage through the Montana courts, Lee says that leaders with Compassion and Choices realized that most people aren't aware of the end-of-life options they legally have in the "other 50 states of the union."
A bill recently signed into law in New York state will require a patient's health care provider to provide information and counseling to that patient on palliative care, prognosis, and end-of-life options, once the patient is diagnosed with a terminal illness.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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