New Jersey's 'aid-in-dying' law reinstated after pair of court rulings

A pair of New Jersey court decisions handed down hours apart on Tuesday reinstated a law allowing physicians to prescribe medication to terminally ill patients to end their lives.

The law, which went into effect Aug. 1, was temporarily put on hold by a judge as part of a legal challenge brought by a New Jersey doctor. 

The pair of Tuesday rulings addressed only the temporary restraining order, and they mean doctors can prescribe lethal medication while the lawsuit continues through the court process. The doctor ultimately wants a judge to declare the entire law unconstitutional. 

On Tuesday morning, a state appellate court said agencies and regulatory boards did not need to establish rules before the law could go into effect. That reversed an earlier ruling on Aug. 14 by Superior Court Judge Paul Innes in Mercer County, who had put the law on hold primarily based on concerns that the rules were not yet in place.

"Had the Legislature intended the Act to remain in a period of perpetual quiescence, thereby keeping all interested parties in limbo until a half-dozen administrative bodies decided to engage in their rulemaking functions, it could have clearly said so," reads Tuesday's appellate court order, written by Judge Arnold L. Natali Jr. "In using permissive, as opposed to mandatory language, it is clear that the Legislature did not intend that implementation of the Act await rulemaking."

In response, lawyers for the Bergenfield doctor who filed the lawsuit quickly asked the New Jersey Supreme Court to step in, though hours later the state's top court declined to hear the issue.

“We are disappointed with the ruling but nevertheless respect it," said Richard W. Grohmann, a lawyer at Smith & Associates in Bloomfield, who represents the doctor. 

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The doctor, Yosef Glassman, specializes in geriatrics. A practicing Orthodox Jew, Glassman objected to the law in part on religious grounds and wants it to be overturned. While doctors can decline to prescribe lethal medication, the law says doctors have to pass medical files to other physicians upon a patient's request, forcing a doctor to violate personal religious tenets, Grohmann has said.

While the appellate court did not make a binding decision on Glassman's overall legal argument — his lawsuit will move forward in Superior Court — its order highlights a challenge Glassman will have to overcome.

"His claim that participation in the transfer of records makes him somehow complicit in a qualified terminally-ill patient's informed decision to end his or her life ignores the voluntary nature of his participation under the Act, and his already existing obligation under relevant regulations to provide a patient with his or her medical records," the order reads.

The law was signed by Gov. Phil Murphy in April. New Jersey became one of eight states that allow doctors to prescribe lethal medication to patients with six months or less to live.

Formally called the Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act, the measure includes safeguards such as a 15-day waiting period between when patients first ask for life-ending medication and when doctors can prescribe it. Patients must twice verbally request the medication and also have to submit a written request.

Only patients who are terminally ill, with six months or less to live, and whom doctors have deemed "capable" of making a sound decision can receive a prescription. Two doctors must confirm the diagnosis of a deadly illness.

The judge's order putting the law on hold came just one day before the first patients could have received medication. Its reinstatement on Tuesday brought relief for some families.

“My terminally ill wife is in agony every single day, so we were heartbroken when we found out the law was suspended,” Freddy Kalles of Fort Lee said in a statement provided by the advocacy group Compassion and Choices.

Kalles' wife, Katie Kim, uses fentanyl and morphine every day to control pain from multiple system atrophy, a neurological disorder that can affect breathing and muscle control. Kalles and Kim's story was documented last week by NJ Advance Media.

“But now we’re grateful to the appellate court for this ruling restoring the medical aid-in-dying law," the statement reads. "Katie cannot endure any more suffering and just wants this end-of-life option to die peacefully, at home, with me by her side.”

Stacey Barchenger: @sbarchenger; 732-427-0114; sbarchenger@gannettnj.com