Jeremy Boal spent his career caring for people. As a palliative care physician and former chief clinical officer at Mount Sinai Health System, he watched patients suffer in ways that no medication could reach. He also spent years asking hard questions about medical aid in dying — whether it could be practiced safely, equitably, and without coercion.
Then, in 2023, Boal was diagnosed with ALS.
New York magazine recently profiled Boal, tracing his path from skeptical clinician to one of the more prominent voices in New York’s decade-long fight to pass the Medical Aid in Dying Act, which Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law on February 6, 2026. “After my ALS diagnosis, fear of how my illness might end made it difficult to live in the present. Knowing that medical aid in dying will soon be available in New York has lifted that fear, even though I may never choose to use it. I am deeply grateful to the Legislature and to Governor Hochul for ensuring that this option will soon be available to all dying New Yorkers, because it has given me the peace of mind to live my best life for whatever time I have left.”
Boal brought a rare combination to the effort: years of experience caring for people with late-stage illness, a background as a health system executive, and now a terminal diagnosis of his own. He met with Hochul’s staff, spoke with legislators, and wrote op-eds, sharing what dying can look like, and what having a choice can mean.
Read the full article in New York magazine.
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