Health Care Surrogate Decision Makers *



Home \| Power Of Attorney Health Care Surrogate Decision Makers * The Health Care Surrogate Act allows your family members, friends or guardians (called surrogates) to make a broad range of medical treatment decisions on your behalf, including decisions about life support. A surrogate is allowed to make such decisions only if: you cannot make and communicate these decisions on your own, and you do not have other advance directives, such as a Living Will or Health Care Power of Attorney in effect, or they are not applicable or invalid. Examples: You have signed a Power of Attorney for Health Care, but the person you appointed as your agent has died, and you are no longer able to make or communicate your own health care decisions. Because there is no agent, your Power of Attorney is not operative. Your friends, family or guardian can make medical treatment decisions on your behalf under this law. You have signed a Living Will stating your desire not to receive life support, and you are no longer able to make or communicate your own health care decisions. A decision must now be made about whether to change your medications. Because this is not an issue concerning life support, your Living Will is not applicable. Your friends, family or guardian can make the decision concerning your medication under this law. A Surrogate Decision Maker can make health care decisions on your behalf only if your treating doctor certifies in writing that you lack the ability to make and communicate your own decisions about medical treatment. If a doctor makes that decision, the doctor is then required to try to determine whether you have another kind of advance directive regarding medical treatment, such as a Health Care Power of Attorney. If the doctor cannot identify a valid or applicable advance directive, the doctor must try to determine whether you have any relatives or friends available to serve as a surrogate. Once a surrogate is identified, that person is legally authorized to make a decision on your behalf. The doctor is then legally authorized to follow the surrogate’s decision on medical treatment. When making decisions, the surrogate is required to do what he or she thinks you would want done under the circumstances, and he or she should take into consideration your personal, religious, and moral values. When a Surrogate Decision Maker Can Make a Decision to Forego Life Sustaining Treatment The Act permits a surrogate decision maker to make the decision on your behalf to forgo life sustaining treatment, but only if you are: terminally ill, permanently unconscious, or have an incurable or irreversible medical condition that will ultimately result in death and which causes severe pain or some other inhumane burden. Before a surrogate decision maker can decide whether to forego life support, your treating doctor and at least one other doctor must make a finding that you lack the ability to make the decision. Whenever a doctor makes that finding in a case involving life support, the doctor must inform the patient. If you object to the surrogate decision maker or object to the decision made to terminate life support, then this law will not apply. In that situation, a decision whether to forgo life support can only be made through a court proceeding. Choosing the Surrogate Decision Maker The following order of priority is used in determining who will serve as the surrogate decision maker: The patient's legally appointed "guardian of the person"; The patient's spouse; Any adult son or daughter of the patient; Either parent of the patient; Any adult brother or sister of the patient; Any grandchild of the patient; A close friend of the patient; The patient's legally appointed "guardian of the estate." When there is more than one person at the same priority level, they are required to try to reach an agreement about the decision to be made. If they cannot reach an agreement, the doctor will honor the decision made by the majority of the persons in the priority level, unless the minority initiates a court case to resolve the issue. If any person of a lower priority level disagrees with the decision made by a decision maker under this law, they too may file a case in court. Article Source: http://freelegalinformation.info Published by: Illinois Legal Aid	Authors: Sign Up for a free account Member Login Visitors: Link Exch Contact Us Terms of Use Legal Forms Online Download legal forms for all US states. Uncontested Divorce Forms Legal Name Change Forms Living Will Form Power of Attorney Form Auto Bill of Sale Form Residential Lease Agreement Partnership Agreement Promissory Note Form Last Will and Testament Forms Prenuptial Agreement Personal Bankruptcy Forms