N.Y. Public Health Law 2994-R – Special proceeding authorized; court orders; health care guardian for minor patient
§ 2994-r. Special proceeding authorized; court orders; health care guardian for minor patient. 1. Special proceeding. Any person connected with the case and any member of the hospital ethics review committee may commence a special proceeding pursuant to Article 4 of the civil practice law and rules in a court of competent jurisdiction with respect to any matter arising under this article.
Terms Used In N.Y. Public Health Law 2994-R
- Attending practitioner: means a physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant, selected by or assigned to a patient pursuant to hospital policy, who has primary responsibility for the treatment and care of the patient. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2994-A
- Decision-making capacity: means the ability to understand and appreciate the nature and consequences of proposed health care, including the benefits and risks of and alternatives to proposed health care, and to reach an informed decision. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2994-A
- Ethics review committee: means the interdisciplinary committee established in accordance with the requirements of section twenty-nine hundred ninety-four-m of this article. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2994-A
- guardian: means a health care guardian or a legal guardian of the person of a minor. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2994-A
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Health care: means any treatment, service, or procedure to diagnose or treat an individual's physical or mental condition. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2994-A
- Health care guardian: means an individual appointed by a court, pursuant to subdivision four of section twenty-nine hundred ninety-four-r of this article, as the guardian of a minor patient solely for the purpose of deciding about life-sustaining treatment pursuant to this article. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2994-A
- Hospital: means a general hospital, a residential health care facility, or hospice. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2994-A
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Life-sustaining treatment: means any medical treatment or procedure without which the patient will die within a relatively short time, as determined by an attending physician to a reasonable degree of medical certainty. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2994-A
- Minor: means any person who is not an adult. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2994-A
- Patient: means a person admitted to a hospital. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2994-A
- Person connected with the case: means the patient, any person on the surrogate list, a parent or guardian of a minor patient, the hospital administrator, an attending physician, any other health or social services practitioner who is or has been directly involved in the patient's care, and any duly authorized state agency, including the facility director or regional director for a patient transferred from a mental hygiene facility and the facility director for a patient transferred from a correctional facility. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2994-A
- Reasonably available: means that a person to be contacted can be contacted with diligent efforts by an attending physician, another person acting on behalf of an attending physician, or the hospital. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2994-A
- Surrogate: means the person selected to make a health care decision on behalf of a patient pursuant to section twenty-nine hundred ninety-four-d of this article. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2994-A
- Surrogate list: means the list set forth in subdivision one of section twenty-nine hundred ninety-four-d of this article. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2994-A
2. Court orders designating surrogate. A court of competent jurisdiction may designate any individual from the surrogate list to act as surrogate, regardless of that individual's priority on the list, if the court determines that such appointment would best accord with the patient's wishes or, if the patient's wishes are not reasonably known, with the patient's best interests. The court may remove a surrogate on the ground that the surrogate: (a) is not reasonably available, willing and competent to fulfill his or her obligations under this article; (b) is acting in bad faith; or (c) is the subject of an order of protection protecting the patient or has been arrested or charged for a criminal act that allegedly caused the patient's lack of capacity or substantially injured or impaired the health status of the patient, provided that the application of this provision in a particular case may be waived or modified in the interest of justice. Unless otherwise determined by a court, no surrogate decision made prior to an order designating a surrogate shall be deemed to have been invalid because of the issuance of a designating order.
3. Court orders to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment. A court of competent jurisdiction may authorize the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment from a person if the court determines that the person lacks decision-making capacity, and withdrawing or withholding the treatment would accord with the standards set forth in subdivision five of section twenty-nine hundred ninety-four-d of this article.
4. Health care guardian for a minor patient. (a) No appointment shall be made pursuant to this subdivision if a parent or legal guardian of the person is available, willing, and competent to decide about treatment for the minor.
(b) The following persons may commence a special proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction to seek appointment as the health care guardian of a minor patient solely for the purpose of deciding about life-sustaining treatment pursuant to this article:
(i) the hospital administrator;
(ii) an attending practitioner;
(iii) the local commissioner of social services or the local commissioner of health, authorized to make medical treatment decisions for the minor pursuant to § 383-b of the social services law; or
(iv) an individual, eighteen years of age or older, who has assumed care of the minor for a substantial and continuous period of time.
(c) Notice of the proceeding shall be given to the persons identified in section seventeen hundred five of the surrogate's court procedure act.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, seeking appointment or being appointed as a health care guardian shall not otherwise affect the legal status or rights of the individual seeking or obtaining such appointment.