Opinion: New York’s aid-in-dying law is missing something: the doctors who can make it work

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Source: STAT News

Original: https://www.statnews.com/2026/01/09/neuropalliative-care-new-york-medical-aid-in...

Published: Fri, 09 Jan 2026 09:30:00 +0000

The article describes that New York's physician-assisted-dying law gives patients the right to ask a doctor for a drug to end life in a terminal illness, but does not address whether doctors are adequately trained to guide such decisions.[1] It specifically emphasizes patients with neurological conditions, who make up a disproportionately large portion of requests for assistance in dying in the US.[1] He reports that surveys of neurology residency program directors show great variability in palliative care teaching, including limited formal curricula and a lack of expert educators.[1] He notes that despite some progress, education in this area remains uneven and often insufficiently in-depth for the most complex patient decisions.[1] The article explains that neuropalliative care is multidisciplinary and, like other complex areas of medicine, should have specialized postgraduate (fellowship) training.[1] However, there are currently only a small number of formal fellowship programs in neuropalliative care in the US, resulting in a mismatch between patient needs and workforce capacity.[1]