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2018 Georgia Code 31-32-8 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 31-32-8 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 31-32-8

TITLE 31 HEALTH

Section 32. Advance Directives for Health Care, 31-32-1 through 31-32-14.

CHAPTER 25 ARTICLES OF BEDDING

31-32-8. Duties and responsibilities of health care providers.

Each health care provider and each other person with whom a health care agent interacts under an advance directive for health care shall be subject to the following duties and responsibilities:

  1. It is the responsibility of the health care agent or declarant to notify the health care provider of the existence of the advance directive for health care and any amendment or revocation thereof. A health care provider furnished with a copy of an advance directive for health care shall make such copy a part of the declarant's medical records and shall enter in the records any change in or termination of the advance directive for health care by the declarant that becomes known to the health care provider. A health care provider shall grant a health care agent adequate access to a declarant when a declarant is admitted to any health care facility. Whenever a health care provider believes a declarant is unable to understand the general nature of the health care procedure which the provider deems necessary, the health care provider shall consult with any available health care agent known to the health care provider who then has power to act for the declarant under an advance directive for health care;
  2. A health care decision made by a health care agent in accordance with the terms of an advance directive for health care shall be complied with by every health care provider to whom the decision is communicated, subject to the health care provider's right to administer treatment for the declarant's comfort or alleviation of pain; provided, however, that if the health care provider is unwilling to comply with the health care agent's decision, the health care provider shall promptly inform the health care agent who shall then be responsible for arranging for the declarant's transfer to another health care provider. A health care provider who is unwilling to comply with the health care agent's decision shall provide reasonably necessary consultation and care in connection with the pending transfer;
  3. At the declarant's expense and subject to reasonable rules of the health care provider to prevent disruption of the declarant's health care, each health care provider shall give a health care agent authorized to receive such information under an advance directive for health care the same right the declarant has to examine and copy any part or all of the declarant's medical records that the health care agent deems relevant to the exercise of the health care agent's powers, whether the records relate to mental health or any other medical condition and whether they are in the possession of or maintained by any physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, therapist, health care facility, or other health care provider, notwithstanding the provisions of any statute or rule of law to the contrary; and
  4. If and to the extent an advance directive for health care empowers the health care agent to direct that an autopsy of the declarant's body be made; to make an anatomical gift of any part or all of the declarant's body pursuant to Article 6 of Chapter 5 of Title 44, the "Georgia Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act"; or to direct the final disposition of the declarant's body, including funeral arrangements, burial, or cremation, the decisions of the health care agent on such matters shall be deemed the act of the declarant or of the person who has priority under law to make the necessary decisions, and each person to whom a direction by the health care agent in accordance with the terms of the agency is communicated shall comply with such direction to the extent it is in accord with reasonable medical standards or other relevant standards at the time of reference.

(Code 1981, §31-32-8, enacted by Ga. L. 2007, p. 133, § 2/HB 24; Ga. L. 2008, p. 503, § 4/SB 405.)

Law reviews.

- For note, "An Advance Directive: The Elective, Effective Way to Be Protective of Your Rights," 68 Mercer L. Rev. 521 (2017).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Editor's notes.

- In light of the similarity of the statutory provisions, decisions under former Code Section 31-36-7, which was subsequently repealed but was succeeded by provisions in this Code section, are included in the annotations for this Code section.

Notice of limitation.

- Since the health care agents did not notify defendant physician of a power of attorney and its proscription against surgery, and the document was not in the patient's hospital chart, the physician could not be held liable for battery for performing an operation. Roberts v. Jones, 222 Ga. App. 548, 475 S.E.2d 193 (1996) (decided under former Code Section31-36-7).

Right to administer treatment for pain.

- Even though a patient executed a power of attorney containing a limitation on "painful" surgery, the patient's physician had the duty to perform an operation to alleviate the patient's undoubted pain and suffering. Roberts v. Jones, 222 Ga. App. 548, 475 S.E.2d 193 (1996) (decided under former Code Section31-36-7).

Genuine issues of material fact as to whether medical defendants made a good faith effort.

- Trial court properly denied summary judgment to the medical defendants on the immunity question under the Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care Act, O.C.G.A. § 31-32-10(a)(2), because genuine issues of material fact existed regarding whether the defendants made a good faith effort to rely on the directions and decisions of the patient's health care agent under the Advance Directive in carrying out the March 7 intubation. Doctors Hosp. of Augusta, LLC v. Alicea, 332 Ga. App. 529, 774 S.E.2d 114 (2015), aff'd, 299 Ga. 315, 788 S.E.2d 392 (Ga. 2016).

Under advanced directive, will of patient or patient's agent controls.

- Under the Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care Act, O.C.G.A. § 31-32-1 et seq., it is the will of the patient or the patient's designated health care agent, rather than the will of the health care provider, that controls; and O.C.G.A. § 31-32-8(1) enforces that purpose by declaring that a health care provider who believes a declarant is unable to understand the general nature of the health care procedure which the provider deems necessary shall consult with any available health care agent known to the health care provider who then has power to act for the declarant under an advance directive for health care. Doctors Hospital of Augusta, LLC v. Alicea, 299 Ga. 315, 788 S.E.2d 392 (2016).

No immunity for health care provider.

- After the designated health care agent sued a hospital and a doctor for intubating and putting the agent's grandmother on a mechanical ventilator, contrary to the grandmother's advance directive for health care, the trial court properly rejected the doctor's immunity argument under the Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care Act, O.C.G.A. § 31-32-1 et seq., and properly denied summary judgment on that ground because there was a clear factual dispute about whether the doctor relied at all on any directive from the agent in acting to order the intubation; and there was apparently undisputed evidence that the doctor did not tell the agent that the doctor was unwilling to comply with the agent's decision, or promptly inform the agent of the doctor's decision. Doctors Hospital of Augusta, LLC v. Alicea, 299 Ga. 315, 788 S.E.2d 392 (2016).

Cases Citing O.C.G.A. § 31-32-8

Total Results: 2  |  Sort by: Relevance  |  Newest First

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Doctors Hosp. of Augusta v. Alicea, Admrx., 299 Ga. 315 (Ga. 2016).

Cited 7 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jul 5, 2016 | 788 S.E.2d 392

...“health care facility.” See OCGA § 31-32-2 (9). It is the responsibility of the patient or the health care agent to notify the health care provider of the existence of the advance directive and any amendment to or revocation of the directive. See OCGA § 31-32-8 (1)....
...OCGA § 31-32-2 (9) specifically excludes from “life-sustaining procedures” what might be called palliative care – “the administration of medication to alleviate pain or the performance of any medical procedure deemed necessary to alleviate pain.” See also OCGA § 31-32-8 (2) (qualifying the general rule that a health care provider must comply with a health care agent’s directions and decisions in light of “the health care provider’s right to administer treatment for the [patient’s] comfort or alleviation of pain”)....
...provider deems necessary, the health care provider shall consult with any available health care agent known to the health care provider who then has power to act for the declarant under an advance directive for health care. OCGA § 31-32-8 (1)....
...and with Dr. Catalano. With respect to the duties of “[e]ach health care provider and each other person with whom a health care agent interacts under an advance directive for health care” in this situation, the Act says the following in OCGA § 31-32-8 (2): A health care decision made by a health care agent in accordance with the terms of an advance directive for health care shall be complied with by every health care provider to whom the decision is communicated...
...comply with such direction or 22 The first three of these statutory immunity provisions, it is important to recognize, mirror the statutory duties imposed on health care providers by OCGA § 31-32-8 (2). Corresponding to the first clause of § 31-32-8 (2), which requires that “[a] health care decision made by a health care agent in accordance with the terms of an advance directive for health care shall be complied with by every health care provider to whom the decision is communica...
...cision by the health care agent are substantially in accord with reasonable medical standards at the time of reference and the provider cooperates in the transfer of the declarant pursuant to paragraph (2) of Code Section 31-32-8, the health care provider, health care facility, or person shall not be subject to civil or criminal liability or discipline for unprofessional conduct for failure to comply with the advance directi...
...advance directive for health care unless such person had actual knowledge of the revocation. 23 care agent, even if death or injury to the declarant ensues.” And corresponding to the proviso in § 31-32-8 (2) for health care providers who are “unwilling to comply with the health care agent’s decision,” § 31-32-10 (a) (2) and (3) give such providers similarly broad immunity – so long as they promptly inform the agent of the “re...
...t forth in the clause that 12 We note that “failure,” “fails,” “refusal,” and “unwilling” are used interchangeably in subsections (a) (2) and (3) with regard to a lack of compliance with the agent’s direction; § 31-32-8 (2), to which subsection (a) (3) expressly refers and which describes the course of provider conduct authorized by the Act that is then immunized by subsections (a) (2) and (3), uses “unwilling to comply.” And the Act elsewhere refers...
...nt opening, but as explained previously, (a) (3) supplements (a) (2) in reflecting the duties imposed 25 on providers who are “unwilling to comply” with an agent’s direction pursuant to the proviso in § 31-32-8 (2) – just as (a) (1) mirrors the general compliance duty in § 31-32-8 (2) – so a separate link to the introductory clause was not needed....
...cates that Dr. Catalano honestly believed that he was complying with Alicea’s directions when he ordered Stephenson’s intubation on March 7. Alicea, 332 Ga. App. at 541-542. This approach skips over the preliminary question of reliance. OCGA § 31-32-8 (2) plainly authorizes a health care provider to make no effort to comply with an agent’s direction – to refuse or fail entirely to comply – so long as the provider promptly informs the agent of that choice and takes the other steps of care and cooperation that the Act requires....
...Recall that a primary purpose of the Advance Directive Act is to ensure that in making decisions about a patient’s health care, it is the will of the patient or her designated agent, rather than the will of the health care provider, that controls. OCGA § 31-32-8 (1) enforces this purpose by declaring that a health care provider who believes a declarant is unable to understand the general nature of the health care procedure which the provider deems necessary ....
...shall consult with any available health care agent known to the health care provider who then has power to act for the declarant under an advance directive for health care. If a provider is aware of what the agent has decided, and then proceeds as the statute mandates in § 31-32-8 (2) – either by complying with that decision or by taking the steps required when he is unwilling to comply with the decision – then he may look to the immunity provisions in § 31-32-10 (a) for protection. But a provider cannot cla...
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Edwards v. Shumate, 468 S.E.2d 23 (Ga. 1996).

Cited 5 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Mar 11, 1996 | 266 Ga. 374, 96 Fulton County D. Rep. 966

...ill is executed in hospital or skilled nursing facility, patient must sign it in presence of two witnesses and in the presence of a representative of the hospital or skilled nursing facility who is not participating in the care of the patient); OCGA § 31-32-8(a)(3, 4) (before withholding life-sustaining procedures under a living will, a physician must make a reasonable effort to determine that the living will has been properly executed and must make the living will a part of the patient's medical record)....