Upon passage of Senate Bill 24-068, Concerning End-of-Life Options for an Individual with a Terminal Illness, and as part of CDPHE’s regulatory plan, a rule review of the Medical Aid-in-Dying rule, 6 CCR 1009-4, Reporting and Collecting Medical Aid-in-Dying Medication Information was due. After conducting the rule review, the program has proposed changes to the rule, and is seeking your feedback. Please click the link below to access the rulemaking packet, which contains information necessary to understand the scope and purpose behind the rule changes, as well as a marked-up version of the rule (at the end of the packet).
Please submit feedback and questions to Kirk Bol, Vital Statistics Program Manager, kirk.bol@state.co.us
About the Act Reporting Requirements Annual Statistical ReportIn 2016, Colorado voters approved Proposition 106 , “Access to Medical Aid In Dying,” which amends Colorado statutes to include the Colorado End-of-life Options Act (hereinafter “Act”) at Article 48 of Title 25, C.R.S. The Act:
Allows an eligible terminally ill individual with a prognosis of six months or less to live to request and self-administer medical aid-in-dying medication in order to voluntarily end his or her life,
Authorizes a physician to prescribe medical aid-in-dying medication to a terminally ill individual under certain conditions, and
Creates criminal penalties for tampering with a person's request for medical aid- in-dying medication or knowingly coercing a person with a terminal illness to request the medication.
This Act requires the prescribing physician and the health care professional dispensing aid-in-dying medication to provide the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) with information outlined by the Act, and necessary to ensure compliance with the documentation requirements of the Act. Rules have been adopted by the Board of Health describing these reporting requirements ( 6 CCR 1009-4 ). Following are the required forms:
CDPHE will use data submitted with these forms to generate and make available to the public an annual statistical report of aggregate data collected.
A request for medical aid-in-dying medication must substantially conform to the Request for medication to end my life in a peaceful manner form delineated in Section 25-48-112, C.R.S. The Request for medication to end my life in a peaceful manner form repeats the statute and may be used for the written request for medical aid-in-dying medication. The form is being provided to support accurate reporting by attending physicians. The Department is unable to modify the form, comment as to whether an individual or a form has substantially complied with statute, or provide an individual medical or legal advice.
The information collected, however, is not available for public inspection, and will be maintained as confidential. As such, CDPHE will not confirm on a case-by-case basis whether an individual was prescribed aid-in-dying medication, or whether a health care provider has prescribed or dispensed aid-in-dying medication.
Patients are invited to consult with their physicians regarding any questions they have concerning requests for aid-in-dying medication. The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) continues to have oversight responsibilities for physicians and pharmacists participating in the activities covered by the Act.