* § 2967. Decision-making on behalf of a minor patient. 1. An attending practitioner, in consultation with a minor's parent or legal guardian, shall determine whether a minor has the capacity to make a decision regarding resuscitation.

Terms Used In N.Y. Public Health Law 2967

  • Attending practitioner: means the physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant, licensed or certified pursuant to title eight of the education law, selected by or assigned to a patient in a hospital who has primary responsibility for the treatment and care of the patient. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2961
  • Capacity: means the ability to understand and appreciate the nature and consequences of an order not to resuscitate, including the benefits and disadvantages of such an order, and to reach an informed decision regarding the order. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2961
  • Cardiopulmonary resuscitation: means measures to restore cardiac function or to support ventilation in the event of a cardiac or respiratory arrest. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2961
  • 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.
  • Hospital: means a hospital as defined in subdivision ten of § 1. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2961
  • Minor: means any person who is not an adult. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2961
  • Nurse practitioner: means a nurse practitioner certified pursuant to § 6910 of the education law who is practicing in accordance with subdivision three of § 6902 of the education law. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2961
  • Order not to resuscitate: means an order not to attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the event a patient suffers cardiac or respiratory arrest. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2961
  • Parent: means a parent who has custody of the minor. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2961
  • Patient: means a person admitted to a hospital. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2961

2. (a) The consent of a minor's parent or legal guardian and the consent of the minor, if the minor has capacity, must be obtained prior to issuing an order not to resuscitate the minor.

(b) Where the attending practitioner has reason to believe that there is another parent or a non-custodial parent who has not been informed of a decision to issue an order not to resuscitate the minor, the attending practitioner, or someone acting on behalf of the practitioner, shall make reasonable efforts to determine if the uninformed parent or non-custodial parent has maintained substantial and continuous contact with the minor and, if so, shall make diligent efforts to notify that parent or non-custodial parent of the decision prior to issuing the order.

3. A parent or legal guardian may consent to an order not to resuscitate on behalf of a minor only if there has been a written determination by the attending practitioner, with the written concurrence of another physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant selected by a person authorized by the hospital to make such selections given after personal examination of the patient, that, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, the minor suffers from one of the medical conditions set forth in paragraph (c) of subdivision three of section twenty-nine hundred sixty-five of this article. Each determination shall be included in the patient's medical chart.

4. (a) A parent or legal guardian of a minor, in making a decision regarding cardiopulmonary resuscitation, shall consider the minor patient's wishes, including a consideration of the minor patient's religious and moral beliefs, and shall express a decision consenting to issuance of an order not to resuscitate either (i) in writing, dated and signed in the presence of one witness eighteen years of age or older who shall sign the decision, or (ii) orally, to two persons eighteen years of age or older, one of whom is a physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant affiliated with the hospital in which the patient is being treated. Any such decision shall be recorded in the patient's medical chart.

(b) The attending practitioner who is provided with the decision of a minor's parent or legal guardian, expressed pursuant to this subdivision, and of the minor if the minor has capacity, shall include such decision or decisions in the minor's medical chart and shall comply with the provisions of paragraph (b) of subdivision four of section twenty-nine hundred sixty-five of this article.

(c) If the attending practitioner has actual notice of the opposition of a parent or non-custodial parent to consent by another parent to an order not to resuscitate a minor, the physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant shall submit the matter to the dispute mediation system and such order shall not be issued or shall be revoked in accordance with the provisions of subdivision three of section twenty-nine hundred seventy-two of this article.

* NB Repealed March 21, 2024