Text: HSB00622                          Text: HSB00624
Text: HSB00600 - HSB00699               Text: HSB Index
Bills and Amendments: General Index     Bill History: General Index



House Study Bill 623

Bill Text

PAG LIN
  1  1    Section 1.  Section 144A.2, Code 2001, is amended to read
  1  2 as follows:
  1  3    144A.2  DEFINITIONS.
  1  4    Except as otherwise provided, as used in this chapter:
  1  5    1.  "Adult" means an individual eighteen years of age or
  1  6 older.
  1  7    2.  "Attending physician" means the physician selected by,
  1  8 or assigned to, the patient who has primary responsibility for
  1  9 the treatment and care of the patient.
  1 10    3.  "Declaration" means a document executed in accordance
  1 11 with the requirements of section 144A.3.
  1 12    4.  "Department" means the Iowa department of public
  1 13 health.
  1 14    5.  "Emergency medical care provider" means emergency
  1 15 medical care provider as defined in section 147A.1.
  1 16    4. 6.  "Health care provider" means a person, including an
  1 17 emergency medical care provider, who is licensed, certified,
  1 18 or otherwise authorized or permitted by the law of this state
  1 19 to administer health care in the ordinary course of business
  1 20 or in the practice of a profession.
  1 21    7.  "Hospital" means hospital as defined in section 135B.1.
  1 22    5. 8.  "Life-sustaining procedure" means any medical
  1 23 procedure, treatment, or intervention, including
  1 24 resuscitation, which meets both of the following requirements:
  1 25    a.  Utilizes mechanical or artificial means to sustain,
  1 26 restore, or supplant a spontaneous vital function.
  1 27    b.  When applied to a patient in a terminal condition,
  1 28 would serve only to prolong the dying process.
  1 29    "Life-sustaining procedure" does not include the provision
  1 30 of nutrition or hydration except when required to be provided
  1 31 parenterally or through intubation or the administration of
  1 32 medication or performance of any medical procedure deemed
  1 33 necessary to provide comfort care or to alleviate pain.
  1 34    9.  "Out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate order" means a
  1 35 written order signed by a physician, executed in accordance
  2  1 with the requirements of section 144A.7A and issued consistent
  2  2 with this chapter, that directs the withholding or withdrawal
  2  3 of resuscitation when an adult patient in a terminal condition
  2  4 is outside the hospital.
  2  5    6. 10.  "Physician" means a person licensed to practice
  2  6 medicine and surgery, osteopathy or osteopathic medicine and
  2  7 surgery in this state.
  2  8    7. 11.  "Qualified patient" means a patient who has
  2  9 executed a declaration or an out-of-hospital do-not-
  2 10 resuscitate order in accordance with this chapter and who has
  2 11 been determined by the attending physician to be in a terminal
  2 12 condition.
  2 13    12.  "Resuscitation" means any medical intervention that
  2 14 utilizes mechanical or artificial means to sustain, restore,
  2 15 or supplant a spontaneous vital function, including but not
  2 16 limited to chest compression, defibrillation, intubation, and
  2 17 emergency drugs intended to alter cardiac function or
  2 18 otherwise to sustain life.
  2 19    8. 13.  "Terminal condition" means an incurable or
  2 20 irreversible condition that, without the administration of
  2 21 life-sustaining procedures, will, in the opinion of the
  2 22 attending physician, result in death within a relatively short
  2 23 period of time or a state of permanent unconsciousness from
  2 24 which, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, there can
  2 25 be no recovery.
  2 26    Sec. 2.  Section 144A.3, subsection 2, unnumbered paragraph
  2 27 1, Code 2001, is amended to read as follows:
  2 28    The declaration must be signed by the declarant or another
  2 29 person acting on behalf of the declarant at the direction of
  2 30 the declarant, must contain the date of its the declaration's
  2 31 execution, and must be witnessed or acknowledged by one of the
  2 32 following methods:
  2 33    Sec. 3.  Section 144A.3, subsection 2, paragraph a,
  2 34 subparagraphs (1) and (2), Code 2001, are amended to read as
  2 35 follows:
  3  1    (1)  A health care provider attending the declarant on the
  3  2 date of execution of the declaration.
  3  3    (2)  An employee of a health care provider attending the
  3  4 declarant on the date of execution of the declaration.
  3  5    Sec. 4.  Section 144A.7, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code
  3  6 2001, is amended to read as follows:
  3  7    a.  The attorney in fact designated to make treatment
  3  8 decisions for the patient should such person be diagnosed as
  3  9 suffering from a terminal condition, if the designation is in
  3 10 writing and complies with chapter 144B or section 633.705.
  3 11    Sec. 5.  NEW SECTION.  144A.7A  OUT-OF-HOSPITAL DO-NOT-
  3 12 RESUSCITATE ORDERS.
  3 13    1.  If an attending physician issues an out-of-hospital do-
  3 14 not-resuscitate order for an adult patient under this section,
  3 15 the physician shall use the form prescribed pursuant to
  3 16 subsection 2, include a copy of the order in the patient's
  3 17 medical record, and provide a copy to the patient or an
  3 18 individual authorized to act on the patient's behalf.
  3 19    2.  The department, in collaboration with interested
  3 20 parties, shall prescribe uniform out-of-hospital do-not-
  3 21 resuscitate order forms and uniform personal identifiers, and
  3 22 shall adopt administrative rules necessary to implement this
  3 23 section.  The uniform forms and personal identifiers shall be
  3 24 used statewide.
  3 25    3.  The out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate order form shall
  3 26 include all of the following:
  3 27    a.  The patient's name.
  3 28    b.  The patient's date of birth.
  3 29    c.  The name of the individual authorized to act on the
  3 30 patient's behalf, if applicable.
  3 31    d.  A statement that the patient is in a terminal
  3 32 condition.
  3 33    e.  The physician's signature.
  3 34    f.  The date the form is signed.
  3 35    g.  A concise statement of the nature and scope of the
  4  1 order.
  4  2    h.  Any other information necessary to provide clear and
  4  3 reliable instructions to a health care provider.
  4  4    4.  A health care provider may withhold or withdraw
  4  5 resuscitation outside a hospital consistent with an out-of-
  4  6 hospital do-not-resuscitate order issued under this section
  4  7 and the rules or protocols adopted by the department.
  4  8    5.  In fulfilling the instructions of an out-of-hospital
  4  9 do-not-resuscitate order under this chapter, a health care
  4 10 provider shall continue to provide appropriate comfort care
  4 11 and pain relief to the patient.
  4 12    6.  An out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate order shall not
  4 13 apply when a patient is in need of emergency medical services
  4 14 due to a sudden accident or injury resulting from a motor
  4 15 vehicle collision, fire, mass casualty, or other cause of a
  4 16 sudden accident or injury which is outside the scope of the
  4 17 patient's terminal condition.
  4 18    7.  An out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate order is deemed
  4 19 revoked at any time that a patient, or an individual
  4 20 authorized to act on the patient's behalf as designated on the
  4 21 out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate order, is able to
  4 22 communicate in any manner the intent that the order be
  4 23 revoked, without regard to the mental or physical condition of
  4 24 the patient.  A revocation is only effective as to the health
  4 25 care provider upon communication to that provider by the
  4 26 patient, an individual authorized to act on the patient's
  4 27 behalf as designated in the order, or by another person to
  4 28 whom the revocation is communicated.
  4 29    8.  The personal wishes of family members or other
  4 30 individuals who are not authorized in the order to act on the
  4 31 patient's behalf shall not supersede a valid out-of-hospital
  4 32 do-not-resuscitate order.
  4 33    9.  If uncertainty regarding the validity or applicability
  4 34 of an out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate order exists, a
  4 35 health care provider shall provide necessary and appropriate
  5  1 resuscitation.
  5  2    10.  A health care provider shall document compliance or
  5  3 noncompliance with an out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate order
  5  4 and the reasons for not complying with the order, including
  5  5 evidence that the order was revoked or uncertainty regarding
  5  6 the validity or applicability of the order.
  5  7    11.  This section shall not preclude a hospital licensed
  5  8 under chapter 135B from honoring an out-of-hospital do-not-
  5  9 resuscitate order entered in accordance with this section and
  5 10 in compliance with established hospital policies and
  5 11 protocols.
  5 12    Sec. 6.  Section 144A.8, Code 2001, is amended to read as
  5 13 follows:
  5 14    144A.8  TRANSFER OF PATIENTS.
  5 15    1.  An attending physician who is unwilling to comply with
  5 16 the requirements of section 144A.5, or who is unwilling to
  5 17 comply with the declaration of a qualified patient in
  5 18 accordance with section 144A.6 or an out-of-hospital do-not-
  5 19 resuscitate order pursuant to section 144A.7A, or who is
  5 20 unwilling to comply with the provisions of section 144A.7 or
  5 21 144A.7A shall take all reasonable steps to effect the transfer
  5 22 of the patient to another physician.
  5 23    2.  If the policies of a health care provider preclude
  5 24 compliance with the declaration or out-of-hospital do-not-
  5 25 resuscitate order of a qualified patient under this chapter or
  5 26 preclude compliance with the provisions of section 144A.7 or
  5 27 144A.7A, the provider shall take all reasonable steps to
  5 28 effect the transfer of the patient to a facility in which the
  5 29 provisions of this chapter can be carried out.
  5 30    Sec. 7.  Section 144A.9, subsection 1, unnumbered paragraph
  5 31 1, Code 2001, is amended to read as follows:
  5 32    In the absence of actual notice of the revocation of a
  5 33 declaration or of an out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate order,
  5 34 the following, while acting in accordance with the
  5 35 requirements of this chapter, are not subject to civil or
  6  1 criminal liability or guilty of unprofessional conduct:
  6  2    Sec. 8.  Section 144A.9, Code 2001, is amended by adding
  6  3 the following new subsection:
  6  4    NEW SUBSECTION.  4.  In the absence of actual notice of the
  6  5 revocation of an out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate order, a
  6  6 health care provider who complies with this chapter is not
  6  7 subject to civil or criminal liability or guilty of
  6  8 unprofessional conduct in entering, executing, or otherwise
  6  9 participating in an out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate order.
  6 10    Sec. 9.  Section 144A.10, Code 2001, is amended to read as
  6 11 follows:
  6 12    144A.10  PENALTIES.
  6 13    1.  Any person who willfully conceals, withholds, cancels,
  6 14 destroys, alters, defaces, or obliterates the declaration,
  6 15 out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate order, or out-of-hospital
  6 16 do-not-resuscitate identifier of another without the
  6 17 declarant's or patient's consent or who falsifies or forges a
  6 18 revocation of the declaration or out-of-hospital do-not-
  6 19 resuscitate order of another is guilty of a serious
  6 20 misdemeanor.
  6 21    2.  Any person who falsifies or forges the declaration or
  6 22 out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate order of another, or
  6 23 willfully conceals or withholds personal knowledge of or
  6 24 delivery of a revocation as provided in section 144A.4 or
  6 25 144A.7A, with the intent to cause a withholding or withdrawal
  6 26 of life-sustaining procedures, is guilty of a serious
  6 27 misdemeanor.
  6 28    Sec. 10.  Section 144A.11, subsections 1, 2, 3, and 4, Code
  6 29 2001, are amended to read as follows:
  6 30    1.  Death resulting from the withholding or withdrawal of
  6 31 life-sustaining procedures pursuant to a declaration or out-
  6 32 of-hospital do-not-resuscitate order and in accordance with
  6 33 this chapter does not, for any purpose, constitute a suicide,
  6 34 or homicide, or dependent adult abuse.
  6 35    2.  The making executing of a declaration pursuant to
  7  1 section 144A.3 or an out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate order
  7  2 pursuant to section 144A.7A does not affect in any manner the
  7  3 sale, procurement, or issuance of any policy of life
  7  4 insurance, nor shall it be deemed to modify the terms of an
  7  5 existing policy of life insurance.  No policy of life
  7  6 insurance is legally impaired or invalidated in any manner by
  7  7 the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures
  7  8 pursuant to this chapter, notwithstanding any term of the
  7  9 policy to the contrary.
  7 10    3.  A physician, health care provider, health care service
  7 11 plan, insurer issuing disability insurance, self-insured
  7 12 employee welfare benefit plan, or nonprofit hospital plan
  7 13 shall not require any person to execute a declaration or an
  7 14 out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate order as a condition for
  7 15 being insured for, or receiving, health care services.
  7 16    4.  This chapter creates no presumption concerning the
  7 17 intention of an individual who has not executed a declaration
  7 18 or an out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate order with respect to
  7 19 the use, withholding, or withdrawal of life-sustaining
  7 20 procedures in the event of a terminal condition.
  7 21    Sec. 11.  APPLICATION TO EXISTING ORDERS.  An out-of-
  7 22 hospital do-not-resuscitate order or similar order executed
  7 23 prior to July 1, 2002, is valid and shall be honored in
  7 24 accordance with the then-applicable provisions of law.  
  7 25                           EXPLANATION
  7 26    This bill provides for the development and use of out-of-
  7 27 hospital do-not-resuscitate orders.  The bill provides
  7 28 definitions, including definitions of "emergency medical care
  7 29 provider", "out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate order", and
  7 30 "resuscitation".  The bill also provides the process for
  7 31 issuing an out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate order, directs
  7 32 the Iowa department of public health to develop a uniform form
  7 33 and personal identifier for the orders, specifies the contents
  7 34 of the form, and establishes the scope and limitations of the
  7 35 order.  The bill specifies provisions for the revocation of an
  8  1 order, provides immunity for persons acting in compliance in
  8  2 entering, executing, or otherwise participating in an order,
  8  3 and provides for the application of penalties and general
  8  4 provisions relating to the orders.  With regard to penalties,
  8  5 the bill provides that any person who willfully conceals,
  8  6 withholds, cancels, destroys, alters, defaces, or obliterates
  8  7 an out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate order, or out-of-
  8  8 hospital do-not-resuscitate identifier of a patient without
  8  9 the patient's consent, or who falsifies or forges a revocation
  8 10 of an out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate order of another, is
  8 11 guilty of a serious misdemeanor.  Additionally, any person who
  8 12 falsifies or forges an out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate
  8 13 order of another, or willfully conceals or withholds personal
  8 14 knowledge of or delivery of a revocation with the intent to
  8 15 cause a withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining
  8 16 procedures, is guilty of a serious misdemeanor.  A serious
  8 17 misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more than one
  8 18 year and a fine of at least $250 but not more than $1,500.
  8 19    The bill also provides that existing orders or similar
  8 20 orders existing prior to July 1, 2002, are valid and are to be
  8 21 honored in accordance with the laws that were applicable at
  8 22 the time of execution of the order.  
  8 23 LSB 6053HC 79
  8 24 pf/pj/5
     

Text: HSB00622                          Text: HSB00624
Text: HSB00600 - HSB00699               Text: HSB Index
Bills and Amendments: General Index     Bill History: General Index

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