§16-30-1. Short Title
This article may be cited as the "West Virginia Health Care Decisions Act."
§16-30-10. Reliance on Authority of Living Will; Physician Orders for Scope of Treatment Form, Medical Power of Attorney Representative or Surrogate Decisionmaker; and Protection of Health Care Providers
(a) A physician, licensed health care professional, health care facility, or employee thereof shall not be subject to criminal or civil liability for good-faith compliance with or reliance upon the directions of the medical power of attorney representative in accordance with this article. (b) A health care provider shall not be subject to civil or […]
§16-30-11. Negligence
Nothing in this article shall be deemed to protect a provider from liability for the provider's own negligence in the performance of the provider's duties or in carrying out any instructions of the medical power of attorney representative or surrogate. Nothing in this article shall be deemed to alter the law of negligence as it […]
§16-30-12. Conscience Objections
(a) Health care facilities. -– Nothing in this article shall be construed to require a health care facility to change published policy of the health care facility that is expressly based on sincerely held religious beliefs or sincerely held moral convictions central to the facility's operating principles. (b) Health care providers. -– Nothing in this […]
§16-30-13. Interinstitutional Transfers
(a) If a person admitted to any health care facility in this state has been determined to lack capacity and that persons medical power of attorney has been declared to be in effect or a surrogate decisionmaker has been selected for that person all in accordance with the requirements of this article and that person […]
§16-30-14. Insurance
(a) No policy of life insurance or annuity or other type of contract that is conditioned on the life or death of the person, shall be legally impaired or invalidated in any manner by the withholding or withdrawal of life-prolonging intervention from a person in accordance with the provisions of this article, notwithstanding any terms […]
§16-30-15. Withholding of Life Support Not Assisted Suicide or Murder
The withholding or withdrawal of life-prolonging intervention from a person in accordance with the decision of a medical power of attorney representative or surrogate decision maker made pursuant to the provisions of this article does not, for any purpose, constitute assisted suicide or murder. The withholding or withdrawal of life-prolonging intervention from a person in […]
§16-30-16. Preservation of Existing Rights and Relation to Existing Law; No Presumption
(a) The provisions of this article are cumulative with existing law regarding an individual's right to consent to or refuse medical treatment. The provisions of this article shall not impair any existing rights or responsibilities that a health care provider, a person, including a minor or an incapacitated person or a person's family may have […]
§16-30-17. No Abrogation of Common Law Doctrine of Medical Necessity
Nothing in this article shall be construed to abrogate the common law doctrine of medical necessity.
§16-30-18. Revocation
(a) A living will or medical power of attorney may be revoked at any time only by the principal or at the express direction of the principal by any of the following methods: (1) By being destroyed by the principal or by some person in the principal's presence and at his or her direction;
§16-30-19. Physician S Duty to Confirm, Communicate, and Document Terminal Condition; Medical Record Identification
(a) An attending physician who has been notified of the existence of a living will or combined medical power of attorney and living will executed under this article, without delay after the diagnosis of a terminal condition of the principal, shall take steps as needed to provide for confirmation, written certification, and documentation of the […]
§16-30-2. Legislative Findings and Purpose
(a) Purpose. — The purpose of this article is to ensure that a patient's right to self-determination in health care decisions be communicated and protected; and to set forth a process for private health care decision making for incapacitated adults, including the use of advance directives, which reduces the need for judicial involvement and defines […]
§16-30-20. Living Wills Previously Executed
A living will executed prior to the effective date of this article and which expressly provides for the withholding or withdrawal of life-prolonging intervention or for the termination of life-sustaining procedures in substantial compliance with the provisions of section four of this article is hereby recognized as a valid living will, as though it were […]
§16-30-21. Reciprocity
A living will medical power of attorney, mental health advance directive, medical orders (portable orders for scope of treatment or do-not-resuscitate card), or similar advance directive or medical orders form executed in another state is validly executed for the purposes of this article if it is executed in compliance with the laws of this state […]
§16-30-22. Liability for Failure to Act in Accordance With the Directives of a Living Will or Medical Power of Attorney or the Directions of a Medical Power of Attorney Representative or Health Care Surrogate
(a) A health care provider or health care facility without actual knowledge of a living will or medical power of attorney completed by a person is not civilly or criminally liable for failing to act in accordance with the directives of a principal's living will or medical power of attorney. (b) A health care provider […]
§16-30-23. Prohibition
Under no circumstances may the presence or absence of a living will or medical power of attorney be used to deny a person admission to a health care facility.
§16-30-24. Need for a Second Opinion Regarding Incapacity for Persons With Psychiatric Mental Illness, Intellectual Disability or Addiction
For persons with psychiatric mental illness, intellectual disability or addiction who have been determined by their attending physician or a qualified physician to be incapacitated, a second opinion by a qualified physician or qualified psychologist that the person is incapacitated is required before the attending physician is authorized to select a surrogate. The requirement for […]
§16-30-25. Portable Orders for Scope of Treatment Form
(a) The secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources shall implement the statewide distribution of standardized portable orders for scope of treatment (POST) forms. (b) Portable orders for scope of treatment forms shall be standardized forms used to reflect orders by a qualified physician, an advanced practice registered nurse, or a physician assistant […]
§16-30-3. Definitions
For the purposes of this article: “Actual knowledge” means the possession of information of the persons wishes communicated to the health care provider orally or in writing by the person, the persons medical power of attorney representative, the persons health care surrogate, or other individuals resulting in the health care providers personal cognizance of these […]
§16-30-4. Executing a Living Will, Medical Power of Attorney, or Combined Medical Power of Attorney and Living Will
(a) Any competent adult may execute at any time a living will, medical power of attorney, or combined medical power of attorney and living will. A living will, medical power of attorney, or combined medical power of attorney and living will made pursuant to this article shall be: (1) In writing; (2) executed by the […]