AB 552

This bill permits an individual who is of sound mind, is not incapacitated, is at

least 18 years of age, is a resident of Wisconsin, and has a terminal disease to request

voluntarily medication from his or her attending physician for the purpose of ending

the individual's life in a humane and dignified manner. The bill authorizes the

individual's attending physician to issue a prescription for the medication if specified

requirements are met. Further, the bill creates a statutory request for medication

authorization form and requires that the Department of Health Services prepare and

provide copies of the form for distribution to certain facilities, associations, and

persons.

The bill establishes the following requirements that must be met before an

individual's attending physician may issue a prescription in response to the

individual's request for medication:

1. First, the requester must orally ask his or her attending physician for the

medication. Then, not fewer than 15 days later, the requester must again request

the medication, using a valid request form that is substantially in the form specified

in the bill, is in writing, is signed in the presence of three qualified witnesses and

dated by the requester, is made voluntarily, and is filed in the requester's patient

health care record. After the written request is filed, the requester must orally ask

his or her attending physician a second time for the medication. The attending

physician may not prescribe a medication to fulfill a request for medication until at

least 48 hours after the second oral request.

2. The requester's attending physician must determine that the requester

meets the requirements for making the request. The attending physician must also

complete all of the following additional requirements: a) informing the requester of

his or her diagnosis and prognosis, the probable results of taking the prescribed

medication, and the alternatives to doing so; b) referring the requester to a

consulting physician for review; c) if the requester may be suffering from a

psychiatric or psychological disorder, referring the requester to a psychiatrist or

psychologist for review; d) documenting certain information in the requester's

patient health care record and certifying that requirements have been met regarding

the request; e) asking the requester to inform his or her next of kin about the request;

f) informing the requester that the request is revocable and offering an opportunity

to revoke it; and g) reporting information about the request to DHS.

3. A consulting physician to whom the requester is referred must medically

confirm the attending physician's diagnosis and determination that the requester

meets the requirements for making the request. Any psychologist or psychiatrist to

whom the requester is referred by the attending or consulting physician must

determine and certify in writing that the requester is not suffering from a psychiatric

or psychological disorder, including depression, that causes impaired judgment.

The bill specifies that, if the requester is a resident of a nursing home or