O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 31-32-9 (2019)

Conditions precedent to carrying out health care treatment preferences; physician’s failure to comply with treatment preferences

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)

Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.

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(a) Prior to effecting a withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures or the withholding or withdrawal of the provision of nourishment or hydration from a declarant pursuant to a declarant’s

directions in an advance directive for health care, the attending physician: (1) Shall determine that, to the best of that attending physician’s knowledge, the declarant is not pregnant, or if she is, that the fetus is not viable and that the declarant has specifically indicated in the advance directive for health care that the declarant’s directions regarding the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures or the withholding or withdrawal of the provision of nourishment or hydration are to be carried out; (2) Shall, without delay after the diagnosis of a terminal condition or state of permanent unconsciousness of the declarant, take the necessary steps to provide for the written certification of the declarant’s terminal condition or state of permanent unconsciousness in accordance with the procedure set forth in subsection (b) of this Code section; (3) Shall make a reasonable effort to determine that the advance directive for health care complies with Code Section 31-32-5; and (4) Shall make the advance directive for health care and the written certification of the terminal condition or state of permanent unconsciousness a part of the declarant patient’s medical records. (b) The procedure for establishing a terminal condition or state of permanent unconsciousness is as follows: two physicians, one of whom shall be the attending physician, who, after personally examining the declarant, shall certify in writing, based upon conditions found during the course of their examination and in accordance with currently accepted medical standards, that the declarant is in a terminal condition or state of permanent unconsciousness. (c) The advance directive for health care shall be presumed, unless revoked, to be the directions of the declarant regarding the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures or the withholding or withdrawal of the provision of nourishment or hydration. (d) The attending physician who fails or refuses to comply with the declarant’s directions regarding the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures or the withholding or withdrawal of the provision of nourishment or hydration shall advise promptly the health care agent, if one is appointed, and, otherwise, next of kin or legal guardian of the declarant that such physician is unwilling to effectuate such directions. The attending physician shall thereafter at the election of the health care agent, if one is appointed, and, otherwise, next of kin or legal guardian of the declarant: (1) Make a good faith attempt to effect the transfer of the declarant to another physician who will comply with the declarant’s directions

regarding the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures or the withholding or withdrawal of the provision of nourishment or hydration; or (2) Permit the health care agent, if one is appointed, and, otherwise, next of kin or legal guardian of the declarant to obtain another physician who will comply with the declarant’s directions regarding the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures or the withholding or withdrawal of the provision of nourishment or hydration.

History

Code 1981, § 31-32-9, enacted by Ga. L. 2007, p. 133, § 2/HB 24.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 2 cases, 2008–2016 · leading case: Doctors Hosp. of Augusta v. Alicea, Admrx., 788 S.E.2d 392 (Ga. 2016).

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Doctors Hosp. of Augusta v. Alicea, Admrx., 788 S.E.2d 392 (Ga. 2016). · cites it 4× “10 Subsections (b) and (c) of OCGA § 31-32-10 relate to immunity from civil and criminal liability and professional discipline involving the patient’s instructions concerning the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures, nourishment, or hydration as discussed in…”

Ussery v. Child.'s Healthcare of Atlanta, Inc., 656 S.E.2d 882 (Ga. Ct. App. 2008). · cites it 4× “) do not govern the issue in this matter, it is worth noting that under OCGA§§ 31-32-9 (b) and 31-39-2 (4), decisions to withdraw life support or withhold resuscitation, respectively, require input from only the attending and one other physician.”

— 31-32-9(b) — 1 case

Ussery v. Child.'s Healthcare of Atlanta, Inc., 656 S.E.2d 882 (Ga. Ct. App. 2008). “) do not govern the issue in this matter, it is worth noting that under OCGA§§ 31-32-9 (b) and 31-39-2 (4), decisions to withdraw life support or withhold resuscitation, respectively, require input from only the attending and one other physician.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.