§ 2994-d. Health care decisions for adult patients by surrogates. 1.\nIdentifying the surrogate. One person from the following list from the\nclass highest in priority when persons in prior classes are not\nreasonably available, willing, and competent to act, shall be the\nsurrogate for an adult patient who lacks decision-making capacity.\nHowever, such person may designate any other person on the list to be\nsurrogate, provided no one in a class higher in priority than the person\ndesignated objects:\n (a) A guardian authorized to decide about health care pursuant to\narticle eighty-one of the mental hygiene law;\n (b) The spouse, if not legally separated from the patient, or the\ndomestic partner;\n (c) A son or daughter eighteen years of age or older;\n (d) A parent;\n (e) A brother or sister eighteen years of age or older;\n (f) A close friend.\n 2. Restrictions on who may be a surrogate. An operator, administrator,\nor employee of a hospital or a mental hygiene facility from which the\npatient was transferred, or a physician, nurse practitioner or physician\nassistant who has privileges at the hospital or a health care provider\nunder contract with the hospital may not serve as the surrogate for any\nadult who is a patient of such hospital, unless such individual is\nrelated to the patient by blood, marriage, domestic partnership, or\nadoption, or is a close friend of the patient whose friendship with the\npatient preceded the patient's admission to the facility. If a\nphysician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant serves as\nsurrogate, the physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant\nshall not act as the patient's attending practitioner after his or her\nauthority as surrogate begins.\n 3. Authority and duties of surrogate. (a) Scope of surrogate's\nauthority.\n (i) Subject to the standards and limitations of this article, the\nsurrogate shall have the authority to make any and all health care\ndecisions on the adult patient's behalf that the patient could make.\n (ii) Nothing in this article shall obligate health care providers to\nseek the consent of a surrogate if an adult patient has already made a\ndecision about the proposed health care, expressed orally or in writing\nor, with respect to a decision to withdraw or withhold life-sustaining\ntreatment expressed either orally during hospitalization in the presence\nof two witnesses eighteen years of age or older, at least one of whom is\na health or social services practitioner affiliated with the hospital,\nor in writing. If an attending practitioner relies on the patient's\nprior decision, the physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant\nshall record the prior decision in the patient's medical record. If a\nsurrogate has already been designated for the patient, the attending\npractitioner shall make reasonable efforts to notify the surrogate prior\nto implementing the decision; provided that in the case of a decision to\nwithdraw or withhold life-sustaining treatment, the attending\npractitioner shall make diligent efforts to notify the surrogate and, if\nunable to notify the surrogate, shall document the efforts that were\nmade to do so.\n (b) Commencement of surrogate's authority. The surrogate's authority\nshall commence upon a determination, made pursuant to section\ntwenty-nine hundred ninety-four-c of this article, that the adult\npatient lacks decision-making capacity and upon identification of a\nsurrogate pursuant to subdivision one of this section. In the event an\nattending practitioner determines that the patient has regained\ndecision-making capacity, the authority of the surrogate shall cease.\n (c) Right and duty to be informed. Notwithstanding any law to the\ncontrary, the surrogate shall have the right to receive medical\ninformation and medical records necessary to make informed decisions\nabout the patient's health care. Health care providers shall provide and\nthe surrogate shall seek information necessary to m
‹ Prev All New York sections Next ›
Lexace provides legal information, not legal advice, and no attorney–client relationship is created. Statute text is provided for general information and may not reflect the most recent amendments; verify against the official state code.