O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 31-9-7 (2019)

Right of persons who are at least 18 years of age to refuse to consent to treatment

✓ 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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Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to abridge any right of a person 18 years of age or over to refuse to consent to medical and surgical treatment as to his own person.

History

Code 1933, § 88-2907, enacted by Ga. L. 1971, p. 438, § 1.

Annotations

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Lucid adult has right to withhold consent to suggested and recommended medical procedures and, absent such consent, a physician owes no further duty to the patient in that regard other than to honor the decision. Kirby v. Spivey, 167 Ga. App. 751, 307 S.E.2d 538 (1983). Minors may not refuse unwanted care. - Georgia provides no ‘‘mature minor’’ exception to the state’s general rule that only adults may refuse unwanted medical care. Novak v. Cobb County-Kennestone Hosp. Auth., 849 F. Supp. 1559 (N.D. Ga. 1994), aff ’d, 74 F.3d 1173 (11th Cir. 1996).

No battery claim. - Trial court erred in denying summary judgment to the medical defendant on the plaintiff ’s battery claim based on the surgical procedure because the uncontroverted evidence of record reflected that there was basic consent for the surgical procedure and allegations that the doctor did not fully disclose the nature of the procedure reflected on an informed consent, not a battery, claim. 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 (2016).

RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. - 59 Am. Jur. 2d, Parent and Child, § 65. C.J.S. - 67A C.J.S., Parent and Child, §§ 38, 40, 41, 46 et seq.

ALR. - Consent as condition of right to perform surgical operation, 76 A.L.R. 562; 139 A.L.R. 1370. Patient’s right to refuse treatment al-

legedly necessary to sustain life, 93 A.L.R.3d 67. Judicial power to order discontinuance of life-sustaining treatment, 48 A.L.R.4th 67.

Power of court or other public agency to order medical treatment over parental religious objections for child whose life is not immediately endangered, 21 A.L.R.5th 248.

CHAPTER 9A WOMAN’S RIGHT TO KNOW Sec.

Short title. Definitions. (For effective date, see note.) Voluntary and informed consent to abortion; availability of ultrasound. (For effective date, see note.) Information to be made available by the Department of Public Health; format requirements; availability; requirements for website.

Cross references. - Abortions not to be performed by physician assistants, § 43-34-110.

Sec.

Requirements in case of medical emergency.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 5 cases, 1983–2015 · leading case: Heather Gary v. City of Warner Robins, 311 F.3d 1334 (11th Cir. 2002).

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Heather Gary v. City of Warner Robins, 311 F.3d 1334 (11th Cir. 2002). “Even assuming arguendo that her claim is a substantive due process claim, the rational basis test utilized with respect to an equal protection claim is identical to the rational basis *1339 test utilized with respect to a substantive due process claim.”

Kirby v. Spivey, 307 S.E.2d 538 (Ga. Ct. App. 1983). · cites it 2× “” OCGA § 31-9-7 (Code Ann. § 88-2907). “[A] competent adult has the right to refuse necessary lifesaving surgery and medical treatment (i.”

Novak v. Cobb Cnty.-Kennestone Hosp. Auth., 849 F. Supp. 1559 (N.D. Ga. 1994). · cites it 4× “§ 31-9-2 (1991) (power to consent); O.C.G.A. § 31-9-7 (1991) (right to refuse).”

Noyak v. Cobb Cnty. Kennestone Hosp. Auth., 74 F.3d 1173 (11th Cir. 1996). · cites it 2× “Gray, who was called into the case as a consultant in the afternoon of June 19, Novak's blood count was at a "critical” level; without a blood transfusion, Novak could succumb to death from, among other things, circulatory failure, renal failure, and liver failure.”

Doctors Hosp. of Augusta, LLC Et Al. v. Alicea, 774 S.E.2d 114 (Ga. Ct. App. 2015). · cites it 2× “We agree with the Defendants with respect to the March 5 surgical procedure, but not with respect to the March 7 intubation.”

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.