New Jersey Reports 33 State Residents Used Aid-in-Dying Law in 2020

Data Shows Slight Increase in Law’s Utilization Rate from 2019

May 14, 2021 New Jersey New Jersey Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act

The New Jersey Department of Health has released a report (NJ.gov link) showing that 33 terminally ill state residents in 16 counties used the state’s Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act to peacefully end their suffering in 2020 (an average of 2.75 adults/month). Ninety-four percent of the people who utilized the law in 2020 were white, 73 percent had cancer and 15 percent had neurological diseases.

In comparison, 12 terminally ill New Jersey residents used medical aid in dying during the first five months after the law took effect on Aug. 1, 2019 (an average of 2.4 adults/month), according to the health department’s 2019 report. New Jersey reported more than 74,000 total deaths from all causes statewide in 2019, according to the health department, but 2020 data on statewide deaths is not available yet.

“Normally, we would expect a significantly higher utilization rate during the second year of the law, as more healthcare providers adopt policies supporting terminally ill patients who request this peaceful dying option and more residents learn about it and request it,” said Kim Callinan, who grew up in Bergen County and is president and CEO of Compassion & Choices, the nonprofit, end-of-life care advocacy organization that led the grassroots campaign to pass the law. “COVID-19 likely resulted in fewer terminally ill New Jerseyans’ being able to access medical aid in dying.”

“We expect more terminally ill New Jerseyans will use the law in the future; that said, the experience in other jurisdictions suggests that utilization rates will remain below one percent of total deaths statewide,” concluded Callinan.

Compassion & Choices has a free online “Find Care” tool (compassionandchoices.org/findcare) that enables New Jerseyans to find the nearest healthcare facility with this patient-supportive policy. The organization nonprofit also has created online tools and resources for patients and doctors, including our online Plan Your Care Resource Center (compassionandchoices.org/end-of-life-planning/) that includes a COVID-19 specific toolkit (compassionandchoices.org/end-of-life-planning/covid-19-toolkit) to help people navigate end-of-life care during the pandemic.

These tools complement the guidance provided by the New Jersey Department of Health for healthcare providers and patients about how to participate in the law and the forms required to do it on its website at nj.gov/health/advancedirective/maid. The New Jersey Hospital Association has posted a law implementation toolkit for healthcare providers on its website at njha.com/resources/toolkits/the-nj-aid-in-dying-for-the-terminally-ill-implementation-toolkit.

“What I found remarkable about all of the terminally ill people I have prescribed medical aid in dying to, with no exceptions, was that they were all extremely clear in their requests, their decisions were made after weeks of discussions with their respective families, friends, and even clergy,” said Deborah Pasik, M.D. FACR, a physician in Cedar Knolls, New Jersey. “Every single one of them expressed gratitude and peace of mind, their anxieties dissipated after being told that their prescriptions would be written. They then went on to celebrate their lives with their loved ones, record legacy videos, get their affairs in order with a clear-headedness that only comes with the knowledge that they were in control.”

New Jersey is among 11 jurisdictions nationwide that authorize mentally capable, terminally ill adults with six months or less to live to have the option to request and receive a doctor’s prescription for medication they can decide to take to die peacefully in their sleep if their suffering becomes unbearable. The other 10 jurisdictions that authorize medical aid in dying are California, Colorado, Hawai‘i, Maine, Montana (via state Supreme Court ruling), New Mexico (starting June 18, 2021), Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and Washington, D.C. Collectively, these 11 jurisdictions have decades of experience successfully implementing this medical practice and represent more than one out of five people (22%) nationwide.