S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
8009
I N S E N A T E
January 5, 2024
___________
Introduced by Sen. RIVERA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the public health law and the surrogate's court proce-
dure act, in relation to orders not to resuscitate
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The opening paragraph of subdivision 3 of section 2994-b of
the public health law, as amended by chapter 479 of the laws of 2022, is
amended to read as follows:
Prior to seeking or relying upon a health care decision by a surrogate
for a patient under this article, if the attending practitioner has
reason to believe that the patient has a history of receiving services
for [a] AN INTELLECTUAL OR developmental disability; it reasonably
appears to the attending practitioner that the patient has [a] AN INTEL-
LECTUAL OR developmental disability; or the practitioner IN A GENERAL
HOSPITAL has reason to believe that the patient has been TEMPORARILY
transferred from a mental hygiene facility operated or licensed by the
office of mental health OR THE OFFICE FOR PEOPLE WITH DEVELOPMENTAL
DISABILITIES, then such physician, nurse practitioner or physician
assistant shall make reasonable efforts to determine whether [para-
graphs] PARAGRAPH (a), (b) or (c) of this subdivision [are] IS applica-
ble:
§ 2. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 4 of section 2994-c of the public
health law, as added by chapter 8 of the laws of 2010, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) if the patient IS IN A HOSPITAL AS DEFINED IN SUBDIVISION TEN OF
SECTION 1.03 OF THE MENTAL HYGIENE LAW OR was transferred from a mental
hygiene facility, to the director of the mental hygiene facility and to
the mental hygiene legal service under article forty-seven of the mental
hygiene law.
§ 3. Section 2994-l of the public health law, as amended by chapter
708 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
§ 2994-l. Interinstitutional transfers. 1. If a patient with an order
to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment is transferred from a
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05243-02-4
S. 8009 2
mental hygiene facility to a hospital or from a hospital to a different
hospital, any such order or plan shall remain effective until an attend-
ing practitioner first examines the transferred patient, whereupon an
attending practitioner must either:
[1.] (A) Issue appropriate orders to continue the prior order or plan.
Such orders may be issued without obtaining another consent to withhold
or withdraw life-sustaining treatment pursuant to this article; or
[2.] (B) Cancel such order, if the attending practitioner determines
that the order is no longer appropriate or authorized. Before canceling
the order the attending practitioner shall make reasonable efforts to
notify the person who made the decision to withhold or withdraw treat-
ment and the hospital staff directly responsible for the patient's care
of any such cancellation. If such notice cannot reasonably be made prior
to canceling the order or plan, the attending practitioner shall make
such notice as soon as reasonably practicable after cancellation.
2. ORDERS TO WITHHOLD OR WITHDRAW LIFE-SUSTAINING TREATMENT SHALL
REMAIN EFFECTIVE AND NO AFFIRMATIVE ACTION BY A GENERAL HOSPITAL SHALL
BE REQUIRED PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION WHERE A PATIENT IS TRANSFERRED
WITHIN A GENERAL HOSPITAL BETWEEN A MEDICAL UNIT AND A WARD, WING, UNIT,
OR OTHER PART OF THE GENERAL HOSPITAL WHICH IS OPERATED FOR THE PURPOSE
OF PROVIDING SERVICES FOR PERSONS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS PURSUANT TO AN
OPERATING CERTIFICATE ISSUED BY THE COMMISSIONER OF MENTAL HEALTH.
§ 4. Subdivision 5 of section 2994-cc of the public health law, as
amended by a chapter of the laws of 2023 amending the public health law
relating to orders not to resuscitate, as proposed in legislative bills
numbers S. 2930 and A. 4332, is amended to read as follows:
5. Consent by a patient or a surrogate for a patient in a RESIDENTIAL
facility operated or licensed by the office of mental health, OTHER THAN
A HOSPITAL AS DEFINED IN SECTION 1.03 OF THE MENTAL HYGIENE LAW, shall
be governed by this article. Consent by a patient who is intellectually
or otherwise developmentally disabled and is eligible for life-sustain-
ing treatment decision pursuant to section seventeen hundred fifty-b of
the surrogate's court procedure act shall be governed by that section.
§ 5. Subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b) of subdivision 4 of section
1750-b of the surrogate's court procedure act, as amended by chapter 198
of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
(i) the person who is intellectually disabled has a medical condition
as follows:
A. a terminal condition, [as defined in subdivision twenty-three of
section twenty-nine hundred sixty-one of the public health law] WHICH
FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS SECTION MEANS AN ILLNESS OR INJURY FROM WHICH
THERE IS NO RECOVERY, AND WHICH REASONABLY CAN BE EXPECTED TO CAUSE
DEATH WITHIN ONE YEAR; or
B. permanent unconsciousness; or
C. a medical condition other than such person's intellectual disabili-
ty which requires life-sustaining treatment, is irreversible and which
will continue indefinitely; and
§ 6. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 5 of section 1750-b of the surro-
gate's court procedure act, as amended by chapter 198 of the laws of
2016, is amended to read as follows:
(d) Dispute mediation. In the event of an objection pursuant to this
subdivision, at the request of the objecting party or person or entity
authorized to act as a guardian under this section, except a surrogate
decision making committee established pursuant to article eighty of the
mental hygiene law, such objection shall be referred to [a dispute medi-
ation system] AN ETHICS REVIEW COMMITTEE, established pursuant to
S. 8009 3
section two thousand nine hundred [seventy-two] NINETY-FOUR-M of the
public health law or similar entity for mediating disputes in a hospice,
such as a patient's advocate's office, hospital chaplain's office or
ethics committee, as described in writing and adopted by the governing
authority of such hospice, for non-binding mediation. In the event that
such dispute cannot be resolved within seventy-two hours or no such
mediation entity exists or is reasonably available for mediation of a
dispute, the objection shall proceed to judicial review pursuant to this
subdivision. The party requesting mediation shall provide notification
to those parties entitled to notice pursuant to paragraph (a) of this
subdivision.
§ 7. This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same
manner as a chapter of the laws of 2023 amending the public health law
relating to orders not to resuscitate, as proposed in legislative bills
numbers S. 2930 and A. 4332, takes effect.
