O.C.G.A. § 31-39-6 (2019)
Revocation of consent to order not to resuscitate
(a) A patient may, at any time, revoke his or her consent to an order not to resuscitate by making either a written or an oral declaration or by any other act evidencing a specific intent to revoke such consent which is communicated to or in the presence of an attending physician, nurse, physician assistant, caregiver, health care professional, or emergency medical technician.
(b) Any parent or authorized person may at any time revoke his or her consent to an order not to resuscitate a patient by making either a written or an oral declaration or by any other act evidencing a specific intent to revoke such consent which is communicated to or in the presence of an attending physician, nurse, physician assistant, caregiver, health care professional, or emergency medical technician.
(c) Any physician who is informed of or provided with a revocation of consent pursuant to this Code section shall, either by himself or herself or by designee, immediately include the revocation in the patient’s chart, cancel the order, and notify any health care facility staff responsible for the patient’s care of the revocation and cancellation. Any member of the nursing staff, or a physician assistant, caregiver, health care professional, or emergency medical technician who is informed of or provided with a revocation of consent pursuant to this Code section shall immediately notify a physician of such revocation.
History
Code 1981, § 31-39-6, enacted by Ga. L. 1991, p. 1853, § 1; Ga. L.
1994, p. 672, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 722, § 4; Ga. L. 2011, p. 379, § 3/HB 275.
Annotations
JUDICIAL DECISIONS Parental consent to a DNR order. - O.C.G.A. § 31-39-6 allows ‘‘any parent’’ to revoke consent to an order not to resuscitate. The result is as follows: one parent may consent. If there is no second parent, if the other parent is not present, or if the other parent simply prefers not to participate in the decision, the consent of one
parent to a DNR order is legally sufficient under the statute. However, if there is a second custodial parent who disagrees with the decision to forego cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the second parent may revoke consent under the terms of subsection (b) of O.C.G.A. § 31-39-6. In re Doe, 262 Ga. 389, 418 S.E.2d 3 (1992).