HB 789 – End of Life Option Act
Primary Sponsors: Rep. Pricey Harrison (D – Guilford), Rep. Susan Fisher (D – Buncombe), Rep. Graig Meyer (D – Orange)
This bill would establish an end of life option act to allow qualified patients diagnosed with a terminal disease to end life.
This bill states that a physician who engages in discussions with a patient related to the risks and benefits of end of life options shall not be construed as assisting or contributing to a patient’s independent decisions to self-administer a lethal dose of medication, and such discussions could not be used to establish civil or criminal liability or professional disciplinary action.
This bill would require a physician, not a designee, to receive all requests for aid-in-dying drugs. The physician would be required to keep all records of the verbal and written requests in the individual’s medical file.
The bill outlines what the aid-in-dying form would state as well as what the attending witness completion form would state.
The bill also lists several attending physician responsibilities, consulting physician responsibilities and mental health specialist responsibilities.
The bill states that a death resulting from the self-administration of an aid-in-dying drug shall not be deemed a suicide, but rather a hastened death from the underlying terminal disease. The bill clarifies that coverage under a life, health or annuity policy would not be denied, curtailed or exempted on that basis.
The bill states that the NC Department of Health and Human Services would collect and review the information of individuals who died as a result of ingesting the aid-in-dying drug. This information would be confidential and not a public record.
This bill has been referred to the House Rules and Operations Committee.
