As used in this chapter, the term:
- “Adult” means any person who is 18 years of age or older, is the parent of a child, or has married.
- “Attending physician” means the physician selected by or assigned to a patient to have primary responsibility for the treatment and care of the patient. Where more than one physician share such responsibility, any such physician may act as the attending physician pursuant to this chapter.
- “Authorized person” means any one person from the following list in the order of priority as listed below:
- Any agent under a durable power of attorney for health care or health care agent under an advance directive for health care appointed pursuant to Chapter 32 of this title;
- A spouse;
- A guardian over the person appointed pursuant to the provisions of Code Section 29-4-1;
- A son or daughter 18 years of age or older;
- A parent; or
- A brother or sister 18 years of age or older.
- “Candidate for nonresuscitation” means a patient who, based on a determination to a reasonable degree of medical certainty by an attending physician with the concurrence of another physician:
- Has a medical condition which can reasonably be expected to result in the imminent death of the patient;
- Is in a noncognitive state with no reasonable possibility of regaining cognitive functions; or
- Is a person for whom cardiopulmonary resuscitation would be medically futile in that such resuscitation will likely be unsuccessful in restoring cardiac and respiratory function or will only restore cardiac and respiratory function for a brief period of time so that the patient will likely experience repeated need for cardiopulmonary resuscitation over a short period of time or that such resuscitation would be otherwise medically futile.
- “Cardiopulmonary resuscitation” means only those measures used to restore or support cardiac or respiratory function in the event of a cardiac or respiratory arrest.
(5.1) “Caregiver” means an unlicensed assistant who provides direct health related care to patients or residents, a proxy caregiver performing health maintenance activities as provided in Code Section 43-26-12, or a person performing auxiliary services in the care of patients as provided in Code Section 43-26-12.
- “Decision-making capacity” means the ability to understand and appreciate the nature and consequences of an order not to resuscitate, including the benefits and disadvantages of such an order, and to reach an informed decision regarding the order.
(6.1) “Emergency medical technician” means a person certified as an emergency medical technician, paramedic, or cardiac technician under Chapter 11 of this title.
- “Health care facility” means an institution which is licensed as a hospital or nursing home pursuant to Article 1 of Chapter 7 of this title or licensed as a hospice pursuant to Article 9 of Chapter 7 of this title, or a home health agency licensed pursuant to Article 7 of Chapter 7 of this title.
- “Minor” means any person who is not an adult.
(8.1) “Nurse” means a person who is a licensed practical nurse as provided in Code Section 43-26-32 or a registered professional nurse as provided in Code Section 43-26-3.
- “Order not to resuscitate” means an order not to attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the event a patient suffers cardiac or respiratory arrest, or both.
- “Parent” means a parent who has custody of a minor, or person with legal authority to act on behalf of a minor, or is the parent of an adult without decision-making capacity.
- “Patient” means a person who is receiving care and treatment from an attending physician.
(11.1) “Physician assistant” means a person licensed as a physician assistant pursuant to Article 4 of Chapter 34 of Title 43.
- “Reasonably available” means that a person to be contacted can be contacted with diligent efforts by an attending physician, another person acting on behalf of the attending physician, or the health care facility within a reasonable period of time as determined by the attending physician.
History. Code 1981, § 31-39-2 , enacted by Ga. L. 1991, p. 1853, § 1; Ga. L. 1994, p. 672, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 722, §§ 1, 1.1; Ga. L. 2004, p. 161, § 7; Ga. L. 2007, p. 133, § 15/HB 24; Ga. L. 2011, p. 379, § 1/HB 275; Ga. L. 2021, p. 546, § 2-1/HB 128.
The 2021 amendment, effective July 1, 2021, substituted “minor, or person with legal authority to act on behalf of a minor, or is the parent of an adult” for “minor or is the parent of an adult” in paragraph (10).
Editor’s notes.
Ga. L. 2007, p. 133, § 1/HB 24, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “(a) The General Assembly has long recognized the right of the individual to control all aspects of his or her personal care and medical treatment, including the right to insist upon medical treatment, decline medical treatment, or direct that medical treatment be withdrawn. In order to secure these rights, the General Assembly has adopted and amended statutes recognizing the living will and health care agency and provided statutory forms for both documents.
“(b) The General Assembly has determined that the statutory forms for the living will and durable power of attorney for health care are confusing and inconsistent and that the statutes providing for the living will and health care agency contain conflicting concepts, inconsistent and out-of-date terminology, and confusing and inconsistent requirements for execution. In addition, there is a commendable trend among the states to combine the concepts of the living will and health care agency into a single legal document.
“(c) The General Assembly recognizes that a significant number of individuals representing the academic, medical, legislative, and legal communities, state officials, ethics scholars, and advocacy groups worked together to develop the advance directive for health care contained in this Act, and the collective intent was to create a form that uses understandable and everyday language in order to encourage more citizens of this state to execute advance directives for health care.
“(d) The General Assembly finds that the clear expression of an individual’s decisions regarding health care, whether made by the individual or an agent appointed by the individual, is of critical importance not only to citizens but also to the health care and legal communities, third parties, and families. In furtherance of these purposes, the General Assembly enacts a new Chapter 32 of Title 31, setting forth general principles governing the expression of decisions regarding health care and the appointment of a health care agent, as well as a form of advance directive for health care.”
Ga. L. 2021, p. 546, § 1-1/HB 128, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This part shall be known and may be cited as ‘Gracie’s Law.”’
Ga. L. 2021, p. 546, § 1-2/HB 128, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “The General Assembly finds that:
“(1) A mental or physical disability does not diminish a person’s right to health care;
“(2) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. Section 12101, et seq., prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities, yet many individuals with disabilities still experience discrimination in accessing critical health care services;
“(3) In other states, individuals with physical or mental disabilities have been denied lifesaving organ transplants based on assumptions that their lives are less worthy, that they are incapable of complying with posttransplant medical requirements, or that they lack adequate support systems to ensure compliance with posttransplant medical requirements;
“(4) Although organ transplant centers shall consider medical and psychosocial criteria when determining if a patient is suitable to receive an organ transplant, transplant centers that participate in Medicare, Medicaid, or other federally funded programs are required to use patient selection criteria that result in a fair and nondiscriminatory distribution of organs; and
“(5) Georgia residents in need of organ transplants are entitled to assurances that they will not encounter discrimination on the basis of a disability.”
Law reviews.
For annual survey on wills, trusts, guardianships, and fiduciary administration, see 67 Mercer L. Rev. 273 (2015).