Myers v. Schneiderman Dismissal Will Be Appealed

On May 3 the Appellate Division, First Department, affirmed a lower court ruling dismissing our lawsuit, Myers v. Schneiderman, which EOLCNY initiated to establish medical aid in dying in New York. We plan to pursue an appeal in the Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court.

David Leven, EOLCNY Executive Director said “We still think that if we have the opportunity to have a full factual record developed, with oral testimony from our plaintiffs and experts, that we should have a reasonable chance of success on the merits, assuming that we prevail in the Court of Appeals.”

In reacting to the decision, Kathryn Tucker, Executive Director of Disability Rights Legal Center and co-counsel in the case said “The decision is very disappointing. The key error here was that this intermediate appellate court reached the merits at this very preliminary stage of proceedings. This was the same error of the lower court. This case deserves to go forward for development of a factual record from which the legal theories would then be argued.”