Company Offers Assisted Suicide in NY for $12K

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Financial websites report a New York company is offering “terminally ill patients ‘a good death’ for just under $12,000.”

Late last year, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced an agreement to enact legislation letting healthcare professionals prescribe lethal drugs via so-called “Medical Aid in Dying.” New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act officially took effect on August 5.

That same day, a new company called Quiĕtus began offering assisted suicide in New York. Moneywise and Yahoo Finance write:

“Imagine that instead of taking medication to fend off death from a terminal illness, a person could pay to take a concoction that will end their life in minutes — giving them full control of when and where they die. …

“Quiĕtus was recently profiled by The New York Times. It’s made up of a group of nine doctors, nurses, psychologists and other clinicians. It has no dedicated office because it visits and treats patients in their home.

“Before their scheduled death, patients get two medical evaluations and a mental health screening, as well as a prescription for the drugs needed, including lethal doses of cardiac medication, that will end their life. The $12,000 cost for the patient covers all of this and help for the grieving family after their passing.”

It’s very troubling any time people talk about assisted suicide as if it is a more affordable option for people who are sick or dying.

In parts of the U.S. where physician-assisted suicide is legal, insurance companies have refused to pay for patients’ medical care, but have offered to cover assisted-suicide drugs.

Since 1998, more than one out of twenty assisted-suicide patients in Oregon have expressed concerns about the financial cost of medical treatment, and nearly half have expressed concerns about becoming a “burden” to the people around them.

This is why so many commentators have said that the so-called “right” to die eventually becomes a “duty to die” once assisted suicide is legalized. It puts social and financial pressure on vulnerable people to end their lives prematurely.

Patients in Europe and Canada reportedly have been denied care or actively euthanized as a result of assisted-suicide laws.

Assisted suicide is devastating for families, and it robs patients of compassionate care.

Being pro-life means believing innocent human life is sacred from conception until natural death.

Just like abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide are murder, and they violate the sanctity of human life.

That’s why Family Council helped defeat a very bad bill in 2019 that would have let doctors prescribe lethal drugs to patients in Arkansas and two bad end-of-life bills in 2021. These were flawed measures that fundamentally disrespected the right to life.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Nearly 200 People in New Mexico Received Lethal Prescriptions for Assisted Suicide Last Year

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Government data shows healthcare providers in New Mexico prescribed lethal drugs to 170 people last year under the state’s End-of-Life Options Act.

New Mexico legalized assisted suicide in 2021, and at the time the law was considered one of the worst of its kind. The law lets non-physicians like advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants prescribe assisted suicide drugs, and it does not require patients to see a mental health professional before ending their lives.

New Mexico’s 2025 assisted suicide report shows 170 people received lethal prescriptions last year. All of those prescriptions came from 26 healthcare providers in the state.

The report does not reveal how many people may have traveled to New Mexico for assisted suicide, and it does not provide details about government oversight to ensure healthcare providers complied with the law.

Experience has shown again and again that assisted suicide does not help people who are sick and dying.

Oregon first allowed assisted suicide in 1998, and official state reports have shown for years that the reasons people give most often for wanting to end their lives are loss of autonomy, decreasing ability to participate in activities that make life enjoyable, and loss of dignity.

Most patients do not express concerns about pain. They are lonely, and they feel like they are losing control because of their illnesses. These patients need counseling and support — not a prescription for deadly drugs.

That is part of the reason why Family Council has worked hard to block assisted suicide legislation in Arkansas.

In 2019 and 2021, Arkansas lawmakers wisely rejected very bad end-of-life laws that were flawed and fundamentally disrespected the right to life. Family Council worked closely with our friends in the legislature to stop these proposals.

Being pro-life means respecting innocent human life from conception until natural death. Just like abortion, euthanasia and assisted-suicide are murder, and they violate the sanctity of human life.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Colorado’s Assisted Suicide Reports Show Incomplete Medical Data, Lack of Mental Health Evaluations

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Public health data from Colorado shows that patients approved for assisted suicide likely are not being screened by mental health experts, and the assisted suicide reports that doctors submit to the State are sometimes incomplete.

Colorado legalized assisted suicide under its 2016 End-of-Life Options Act. Since then, the State has recorded nearly 2,600 prescriptions for lethal drugs under the law.

Assisted suicide’s supporters have claimed the law contains strong safeguards to protect vulnerable patients, but statistical data from the State of Colorado raises questions about whether that really is the case.

For example, last year 580 patients were approved for assisted suicide in Colorado. Out of all of those patients, only one reportedly was referred to a mental health professional for evaluation. That’s due in part to the fact that mental health evaluations are optional in Colorado. Under the End-of-Life Options Act, mental health referrals typically are limited to cases where the physician prescribing the drugs has doubts about the patient’s decision-making ability. Doctors are not required to get a mental health professional’s opinion about whether the patient may be suffering from mental illness.

It’s very troubling that doctors would let patients end their lives via assisted suicide without referring them to mental health professionals first. But it is also troubling that official reports from Colorado show some of those doctors may be submitting incomplete patient data to the State when they fill prescriptions for assisted suicide.

For example, Colorado law says the patient’s primary medical provider must consult with a second provider to verify that the patient’s condition is terminal and to help ensure the patient is not being coerced into requesting assisted suicide. Patients must also record their request for assisted suicide in writing.

All of this information is supposed to go to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment when providers write prescriptions for assisted suicide.

But statistical data shows that since 2017, there have been at least 88 cases in which public health officials did not receive copies of the patient’s written request for assisted suicide. There were also 126 cases in which the paperwork did not include documentation from a secondary provider who reviewed the patient’s case.

The 2025 assisted suicide report from Colorado’s Department of Public Health explains these gaps in the data by saying:

“While reporting of the required documentation (including prescribing forms, patients’ written requests, consulting providers’ written confirmations, and mental health provider confirmation when applicable) may be incomplete, attending/prescribing forms received contained providers’ signed attestations that all requirements of the Colorado End-of-Life Options Act have been met, and that required documentation is complete and contained in patients’ records. Efforts continue to educate health care providers about reporting requirements.”

In other words, Colorado’s public health officials will accept incomplete records as long as doctors say they are following the law.

But without proper oversight, there really is no way to know if doctors are following state law.

For example, a 2024 peer-reviewed article found that people with eating disorders like anorexia may sometimes be approved for assisted suicide in Colorado.

A case study published in 2022 revealed a Colorado doctor specializing in anorexia treatment helped patients obtain assisted suicide.

Cases like these are deeply concerning.

But even with government oversight, assisted suicide is still a problem.

Assisted suicide fundamentally changes the doctor-patient relationship from healing to killing.

Experts say that in some places where assisted suicide and euthanasia are legal, palliative care specialists are being driven to quit practicing medicine. That hurts everyone.

Once doctors and policymakers decide some lives are not worth living, it’s practically impossible to choose where to draw the line on assisted suicide.

In parts of the U.S. where assisted suicide is legal, insurance companies have refused to pay for patients’ medical care, but have offered to cover assisted suicide drugs.

Patients in Europe and Canada reportedly have been denied care or actively euthanized as a result of assisted suicide laws.

Next year, Canada could expand assisted suicide to include people suffering solely from mental health conditions like depression or personality disorders.

All of this underscores why Family Council has strongly opposed assisted suicide in Arkansas. In 2019 and 2021, Arkansas lawmakers wisely rejected very bad end-of-life laws that were flawed and fundamentally disrespected the right to life. Family Council worked closely with our friends in the legislature to stop those proposals.

Being pro-life means believing innocent human life is sacred from conception until natural death.

Just like abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide violate the sanctity of innocent human life.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

READ MORE