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ALBANY — Families, guardians and partners now have the power to make medical decisions for incapacitated patients — even if the patient never signed paperwork detailing their wishes.
"For too long, family members have had not only to endure the suffering of their loved ones, but also the archaic nature of our law," said New York Gov. David Paterson before signing the bill into law Tuesday. "This is humane, this is ethical, this is the right legislation."
The bill helps New York catch up with most other states on this issue. The District of Columbia and at least 35 states already created statutes, according to 2008 data from the American Bar Association. Most other states have case law precedent that grants family members and others the authority to make medical decisions.
Lawmakers say only 20 percent of patients have signed proxies, complicating decisions on care, especially for the terminally ill. That can mean extended suffering for some patients.
"In the 17 years that it has taken us to get here, over a million New Yorkers have died in a New York state hospital without the capacity to make their own health-care decisions," said Democratic Assemblyman Richard Gottfried.
The measure requires decisions to be based on the patients' best interests, including their moral or religious beliefs.
Decisions to stop life-sustaining treatment will be authorized only when two doctors independently conclude that a patient isn't expected to live for six more months, regardless of whether treatment is provided. It could also be authorized when a patient is permanently unconscious or has an irreversible condition and providing treatment would cause suffering that would reasonably be deemed inhumane.
The measure, in descending order, lists potential decision-making surrogates as a court-appointed guardian, spouse or domestic partner, adult son or daughter, parent, adult brother or sister, close relative or friend.
For minors, decisions would be made by their parents. For people with no surrogates, it would authorize the attending physician for routine medical treatment. For major medical treatment, the decision would require the agreement of a second doctor.
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