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If You Don’t Have an Advance Directive
If you have lost the capacity to make decisions about your medical treatment, and
have not appointed a health care agent, a person close to you may make decisions on
your behalf. In 2010 the New York Legislature passed the Family Health Care Decisions
Act (FHCDA),
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which allows family members and others who are close to you to make
decisions regarding medical treatment in accordance with your wishes or, if unknown,
your best interests. The “surrogate” decision maker would also be permitted to direct the
withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment (including consenting to a DNR order).
The best way to ensure that your specific wishes are met is to select a Health Care Proxy
and complete a living will as described in this booklet. Otherwise, you will not be able to
control how you receive care while you are incapable of making a decision.
Designation of a Surrogate
If you are declared incapable of making medical decisions and do not have a health care
proxy, the FHCDA provides for the designation of a
“surrogate” decision maker to make medical decisions
for you as outlined under New York law.
The law establishes a prioritized list by category of those
who may act as the surrogate decision maker for the
incapacitated person. The surrogate may be, in order
of priority, the court-appointed guardian, spouse, child
(18 years or older), parent, sibling (18 years or older), or
close friend.
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This person may also designate a person
with lower priority to be the surrogate, assuming no one
with higher priority can take the role. For example, if
you do not have an Article 81 guardian and your spouse
is not willing to serve, your willing adult child will be
your surrogate. Your adult child may also appoint your
willing parent as surrogate.
DNR Bracelet
A DNR bracelet may
be worn only if you
have been issued a
valid Non-Hospital
DNR Order using
form DOH3474.
The law requires
emergency medical
personnel who see
a standard DNR
bracelet on you
to comply with
the Order.
Making Your Advanced Directives Known \