Assisted suicide became legal in New Jersey from 1 August 2019.
The Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act is essentially modelled on the Oregon and Washington laws.
Minimal reporting
Section 13 of the Act requires an annual statistical report to be issued based on reports from attending physicians. The Commissioner of Health is empowered to make regulations as to the documentation required following the death of a person who has been prescribed a lethal substance under this Act.
The 2019 Data Summary indicates that between 1 August 2019 and 31 December 2019 twelve cases of people dying after being prescribed a lethal dose under the Act were reported. In 2020 33 cases of people dying after being prescribed a lethal dose under the Act were reported. In 2021 50 cases were reported, up 51% from 2020 and representing 0.06% of all deaths in New Jersey.
Eight different experimental lethal cocktails were reported as used in 2021.
There is no information provided about complications, length of relationship with the physician, time between first request and ingestion of the lethal dose, time between ingestion of the lethal dose and unconsciousness or time between ingestion of the lethal dose and death.
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