2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 25 - PUBLIC HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT (§§ 25-1-101 — 25-59-106) › HEALTH CARE (§§ 25-21-101 — 25-59-106) › Article 48 - END-OF-LIFE OPTIONS (§§ 25-48-101 — 25-48-124) › Section 25-48-102 - [Effective 8/7/2024] Definitions

As used in this article 48, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1)
"Adult" means an individual who is eighteen years of age or older.
(1.5)
"Advanced practice registered nurse" has the same meaning as set forth in section 12-255-104 (1).
(2)
"Attending provider" means a physician or advanced practice registered nurse who has primary responsibility for the care of a terminally ill individual and the treatment of the individual's terminal illness.
(3)
"Consulting provider" means a physician or advanced practice registered nurse who is qualified by specialty or experience to make a professional diagnosis and prognosis regarding a terminally ill individual's illness.
(4)
"Health-care provider" or "provider" means a person who is licensed, certified, registered, or otherwise authorized or permitted by law to administer health care or dispense medication in the ordinary course of business or practice of a profession.
(5)
"Informed decision" means a decision by a mentally capable individual to request and obtain a prescription for medication pursuant to this article 48, that the qualified individual may self-administer to bring about death, after being fully informed by the attending provider and the consulting provider of:
(a)
The individual's diagnosis and prognosis;
(b)
The potential risks associated with taking the medication to be prescribed;
(c)
The probable result of taking the medication to be prescribed;
(d)
The feasible end-of-life care and treatment options for the individual's terminal disease, including comfort care, palliative care, hospice care, and pain control, and the risks and benefits of each of these options; and
(e)
The individual's right to withdraw a request pursuant to this article 48 or withdraw consent for any other treatment at any time.
(6)
"Licensed mental health professional" means a psychiatrist licensed under article
240
of title
12
or a psychologist licensed under part 3 of article
245
of title
12
.
(7)
"Medical aid-in-dying" means the practice of evaluating a request, the determining of qualification, the performing of the duties in sections 25-48-106 and 25-48-107, and the providing of a prescription to a qualified individual pursuant to this article 48.
(8)
[Repealed by 2024 Amendment.]
(9)
"Medically confirmed" means a consulting provider has examined the terminally ill individual and the individual's relevant medical records and has confirmed the medical opinion of the attending provider.
(10)
"Mental capacity" or "mentally capable" means that in the opinion of an individual's attending provider, consulting provider, psychiatrist, or psychologist, the individual has the ability to make and communicate an informed decision to health-care providers.
(11)
"Physician" means a doctor of medicine or osteopathy licensed to practice medicine by the Colorado medical board.
(12)
"Prognosis of six months or less" means a terminal illness will, within reasonable medical judgment, result in death within six months.
(13)
(a)
"Qualified individual" means a resident of the state who is a capable adult and who has satisfied the requirements of this article 48 in order to obtain a prescription for medication to bring about a death.
(b)
An individual is not a "qualified individual" based solely on the individual's age or disability.
(14)
"Resident" means an individual who is able to demonstrate residency in Colorado by providing any of the following documentation to his or her attending physician:
(a)
A Colorado driver's license or identification card issued pursuant to article
2
of title
42
, C.R.S.;
(b)
A Colorado voter registration card or other documentation showing the individual is registered to vote in Colorado;
(c)
Evidence that the individual owns or leases property in Colorado; or
(d)
A Colorado income tax return for the most recent tax year.
(15)
(a)
"Self-administer" means when a qualified individual performs an affirmative, conscious, voluntary act to ingest medication prescribed pursuant to this article 48 to bring about the individual's death.
(b)
"Self-administer" does not include administration by parenteral injection or infusion.
(16)
"Terminal illness" means an incurable and irreversible disease that has been medically confirmed and will, within reasonable medical judgment, result in death within six months.
Amended by 2024 Ch. 406,§ 1, eff. 8/7/2024.
Amended by 2023 Ch. 278,§ 5, eff. 5/30/2023.
Amended by 2019 Ch. 136, § 174, eff. 10/1/2019.
Initiated 2016: Entire article added, Proposition 106, L. 2017, p. 2802, §1, effective upon proclamation of the Governor, December 16, 2016.
2024 Ch. 406, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).
This section is set out more than once due to postponed, multiple, or conflicting amendments.