An Act To Enact the Maine Death with Dignity Act
Sec. 1. 22 MRSA c. 418 is enacted to read:
CHAPTER 418
PATIENT-DIRECTED CARE
§ 2140. Patient-directed care at the end of life
(1) A person licensed, certified or otherwise authorized or permitted by law to administer health care services or dispense medication in the ordinary course of business or practice of a profession; or
(2) A health care facility.
(1) The qualified patient's medical diagnosis;
(2) The qualified 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 to be prescribed, including palliative care and comfort care, hospice care, pain control and disease-directed treatment options.
(1) A relative of the patient by blood, marriage or adoption;
(2) A person who at the time the request is signed would be entitled to any portion of the estate of the qualified patient upon death, under any will or by operation of any law; or
(3) An owner, operator or employee of a health care facility where the qualified patient is receiving medical treatment or is a resident.
(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 to be prescribed, including palliative care and comfort care, hospice care, pain control and disease-directed treatment options;
(1) Contact a pharmacist and inform the pharmacist of the prescription; and
(2) Deliver the written prescription personally, by mail or electronically to the pharmacist, who may dispense the medications in person to the patient, the attending physician or an expressly identified agent of the patient.
(1) Documentation required to be filed under this paragraph must be mailed or otherwise transmitted as allowed by rules of the department no later than 30 calendar days after the writing of the prescription or the dispensing of medication under this Act, except that all documents required to be filed with the department by the prescribing physician after the death of the qualified patient must be submitted no later than 30 calendar days after the date of the death of the qualified patient.
(2) In the event that a person required under this Act to report information to the department provides an inadequate or incomplete report, the department shall contact the person to request an adequate or complete report;
(1) Loss of privileges, loss of membership or other action authorized by the bylaws or rules and regulations of the medical staff;
(2) Suspension, loss of employment or other action authorized by the policies and practices of the prohibiting health care provider;
(3) Termination of any lease or other contract between the prohibiting health care provider and the employee, independent contractor or other person or entity, including another health care provider, that violates the policy; or
(4) Imposition of any other nonmonetary remedy provided for in any lease or contract between the prohibiting health care provider and the employee, independent contractor or other person or entity, including another health care provider, in violation of the policy.
(1) Participating, or entering into an agreement to participate, in activities under this Act while on premises that are not owned or under the management or direct control of the prohibiting health care provider or while acting outside the course and scope of the participant's duties as an employee of, or an independent contractor for, the prohibiting health care provider; or
(2) Participating, or entering into an agreement to participate, in activities under this Act as an attending physician or consulting physician while on premises that are not owned or under the management or direct control of the prohibiting health care provider.
(1) "Notice" means a separate statement in writing advising of the prohibiting health care provider's policy with respect to participating in activities under this Act.
(2) "Participating, or entering into an agreement to participate, in activities under this Act" means doing or entering into an agreement to do any one or more of the following:
(a) Performing the duties of an attending physician as specified in this Act;
(b) Performing the duties of a consulting physician as specified in this Act;
(c) Performing the duties of a state-licensed psychiatrist, state-licensed psychologist, state-licensed clinical social worker or state-licensed clinical professional counselor, in the circumstance that a referral to one is made pursuant to subsection 8;
(d) Delivering the prescription for, dispensing or delivering the dispensed medication pursuant to this Act; or
(e) Being present when the qualified patient takes the medication prescribed pursuant to this Act.
"Participating, or entering into an agreement to participate, in activities under this Act" does not include doing, or entering into an agreement to do, any of the following: diagnosing whether a patient has a terminal disease, informing the patient of the medical prognosis or determining whether a patient has the capacity to make decisions; providing information to a patient about this Act; or providing a patient, upon the patient's request, with a referral to another health care provider for the purposes of participating in the activities authorized by this Act.
summary
This bill enacts the Maine Death with Dignity Act authorizing a person who is 18 years of age or older, who meets certain qualifications and who has been determined by the person's attending physician to be suffering from a terminal disease, as defined in the Act, to make a request for medication prescribed for the purpose of ending the person's life. The bill establishes the procedures for making these requests, including 2 waiting periods and one written and 2 oral requests and requires a 2nd opinion by a consulting physician. The bill requires specified information to be documented in the person's medical record, including all oral and written requests for a medication to hasten death.
The bill requires the attending and consulting physicians to assess the patient for depression or other mental health condition that impairs judgment. If the attending or consulting physician, in the physician's professional opinion, believes such a condition exists, the patient must be evaluated and treated by a state-licensed psychiatrist, psychologist, clinical social worker or clinical professional counselor. Medication to end a patient's life in a humane and dignified manner may not be prescribed until the person performing the counseling determines that the patient is not suffering from a psychiatric or psychological disorder or depression causing impaired judgment.
The bill prohibits a provision in a contract, will or other agreement from being conditioned upon, or affected by, a person's making or rescinding a request for medication under the Act. The bill prohibits the sale, procurement or issuance of any life, health or accident insurance or annuity policy or the rate charged for any life, health or accident insurance or annuity policy from being conditioned upon or affected by the making or rescinding of such a request.
The bill authorizes a health care provider to prohibit its employees, independent contractors or other persons or entities, including other health care providers, from participating in activities under the Act while on premises owned by or under the management or direct control of that prohibiting health care provider or while acting within the course and scope of any employment by, or contract with, the prohibiting health care provider.
The bill makes it a Class A crime to knowingly alter or forge a request for medication to end a person's life without that person's authorization or to conceal or destroy a withdrawal or rescission of a request for medication, if it is done with the intent or effect of causing the person's death. The bill makes it a Class A crime to knowingly coerce or exert undue influence on a person to request medication for the purpose of ending that person's life or to destroy a withdrawal or rescission of a request. The bill provides that the Act does not authorize ending a patient's life by lethal injection, mercy killing or active euthanasia and provides that action taken in accordance with the Act does not constitute, among other things, suicide or homicide.
The bill requires health care providers to submit specified information to the Department of Health and Human Services upon their writing a prescription for or dispensing medication under the Act and after the death of the qualified patient. The bill requires the department to generate and make available to the public an annual statistical report of information collected regarding compliance with the Act. The bill requires a copy of the report to be submitted to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over health matters annually by March 1st.