Sec. 27. (a) Except when an individual has been determined to be incapacitated under section 35 of this chapter, an individual may consent to the individual’s own health care if the individual is:

(1) an adult; or

(2) a minor, and:

(A) is emancipated;

(B) is:

(i) at least fourteen (14) years of age;

(ii) not dependent on a parent or guardian for support;

(iii) living apart from the minor’s parents or from an individual in loco parentis; and

(iv) managing the minor’s own affairs;

(C) is or has been married;

(D) is in the military service of the United States; or

(E) is authorized to consent to health care by another statute.

     (b) A person at least seventeen (17) years of age is eligible to donate blood in a voluntary and noncompensatory blood program without obtaining permission from a parent or guardian.

     (c) A person who is sixteen (16) years of age is eligible to donate blood in a voluntary and noncompensatory blood program if the person has obtained written permission from the person’s parent.

     (d) An individual who has, could be expected to have exposure to, or has been exposed to a sexually transmitted infection is competent to give consent for medical or hospital care or treatment, including preventive treatment, of the individual.

     (e) If:

(1) an individual:

(A) has a signed advance directive that is in effect; and

(B) has not been determined to be incapacitated under section 35 of this chapter; and

(2) the individual’s decisions and the health care representative‘s decisions present a material conflict;

the health care decisions by that individual take precedence over decisions made by a health care representative designated in that individual’s advance directive.

     (f) Nothing in this chapter prohibits or restricts a health care provider‘s right to follow or rely on a health care decision or the designation of a health care representative on a permanent or temporary basis that is:

(1) made by a competent individual described in subsection (a);

(2) communicated orally by the individual to a health care provider in the direct physical presence of the individual; and

(3) reduced to or confirmed in writing by the health care provider on a reasonably contemporaneous basis and made a part of the health care provider’s medical records for the individual.

     (g) If:

(1) an individual later signs an advance directive under section 28 of this chapter; and

(2) the advance directive conflicts with the recorded earlier oral instructions of the individual with respect to health care decisions or the designation of a health care representative;

the advance directive controls.

As added by P.L.50-2021, SEC.63. Amended by P.L.147-2023, SEC.14.