SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

2017 SESSION

17104443D
HOUSE BILL NO. 1747
AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE
(Proposed by the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions
on January 24, 2017)
(Patron Prior to Substitute--Delegate O'Bannon)
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 54.1-2982 and 54.1-2988 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 54.1-2988.1 and by adding in Article 8 of Chapter 29 of Title 54.1 a section numbered 54.1-2993.1, relating to advance directives; persons authorized to provide assistance in completing.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 54.1-2982 and 54.1-2988 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted and that the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 54.1-2988.1 and by adding in Article 8 of Chapter 29 of Title 54.1 a section numbered 54.1-2993.1 as follows:

§ 54.1-2982. Definitions.

As used in this article:

"Advance directive" means (i) a witnessed written document, voluntarily executed by the declarant in accordance with the requirements of § 54.1-2983 or (ii) a witnessed oral statement, made by the declarant subsequent to the time he is diagnosed as suffering from a terminal condition and in accordance with the provisions of § 54.1-2983.

"Agent" means an adult appointed by the declarant under an advance directive, executed or made in accordance with the provisions of § 54.1-2983, to make health care decisions for him. The declarant may also appoint an adult to make, after the declarant's death, an anatomical gift of all or any part of his body pursuant to Article 2 (§ 32.1-289.2 et seq.) of Chapter 8 of Title 32.1.

"Attending physician" means the primary physician who has responsibility for the health care of the patient.

"Capacity reviewer" means a licensed physician or clinical psychologist who is qualified by training or experience to assess whether a person is capable or incapable of making an informed decision.

"Declarant" means an adult who makes an advance directive, as defined in this article, while capable of making and communicating an informed decision.

"Durable Do Not Resuscitate Order" means a written physician's order issued pursuant to § 54.1-2987.1 to withhold cardiopulmonary resuscitation from a particular patient in the event of cardiac or respiratory arrest. For purposes of this article, cardiopulmonary resuscitation shall include cardiac compression, endotracheal intubation and other advanced airway management, artificial ventilation, and defibrillation and related procedures. As the terms "advance directive" and "Durable Do Not Resuscitate Order" are used in this article, a Durable Do Not Resuscitate Order is not and shall not be construed as an advance directive.

"Health care" means the furnishing of services to any individual for the purpose of preventing, alleviating, curing, or healing human illness, injury or physical disability, including but not limited to, medications; surgery; blood transfusions; chemotherapy; radiation therapy; admission to a hospital, nursing home, assisted living facility, or other health care facility; psychiatric or other mental health treatment; and life-prolonging procedures and palliative care.

"Health care provider" shall have the same meaning as provided in § 8.01-581.1.

"Incapable of making an informed decision" means the inability of an adult patient, because of mental illness, intellectual disability, or any other mental or physical disorder that precludes communication or impairs judgment, to make an informed decision about providing, continuing, withholding or withdrawing a specific health care treatment or course of treatment because he is unable to understand the nature, extent or probable consequences of the proposed health care decision, or to make a rational evaluation of the risks and benefits of alternatives to that decision. For purposes of this article, persons who are deaf, dysphasic or have other communication disorders, who are otherwise mentally competent and able to communicate by means other than speech, shall not be considered incapable of making an informed decision.

"Life-prolonging procedure" means any medical procedure, treatment or intervention which (i) utilizes mechanical or other artificial means to sustain, restore or supplant a spontaneous vital function, or is otherwise of such a nature as to afford a patient no reasonable expectation of recovery from a terminal condition and (ii) when applied to a patient in a terminal condition, would serve only to prolong the dying process. The term includes artificially administered hydration and nutrition. However, nothing in this act shall prohibit the administration of medication or the performance of any medical procedure deemed necessary to provide comfort care or to alleviate pain, including the administration of pain relieving medications in excess of recommended dosages in accordance with §§ 54.1-2971.01 and 54.1-3408.1. For purposes of §§ 54.1-2988, 54.1-2989, and 54.1-2991, the term also shall include cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

"Patient care consulting committee" means a committee duly organized by a facility licensed to provide health care under Title 32.1 or Title 37.2, or a hospital or nursing home as defined in § 32.1-123 owned or operated by an agency of the Commonwealth that is exempt from licensure pursuant to § 32.1-124, to consult on health care issues only as authorized in this article. Each patient care consulting committee shall consist of five individuals, including at least one physician, one person licensed or holding a multistate licensure privilege under Chapter 30 (§ 54.1-3000 et seq.) to practice professional nursing, and one individual responsible for the provision of social services to patients of the facility. At least one committee member shall have experience in clinical ethics and at least two committee members shall have no employment or contractual relationship with the facility or any involvement in the management, operations, or governance of the facility, other than serving on the patient care consulting committee. A patient care consulting committee may be organized as a subcommittee of a standing ethics or other committee established by the facility or may be a separate and distinct committee. Four members of the patient care consulting committee shall constitute a quorum of the patient care consulting committee.

"Persistent vegetative state" means a condition caused by injury, disease or illness in which a patient has suffered a loss of consciousness, with no behavioral evidence of self-awareness or awareness of surroundings in a learned manner, other than reflex activity of muscles and nerves for low level conditioned response, and from which, to a reasonable degree of medical probability, there can be no recovery.

"Physician" means a person licensed to practice medicine in the Commonwealth of Virginia or in the jurisdiction where the health care is to be rendered or withheld.

"Qualified advance directive facilitator" means a person who has successfully completed a training program approved by the Department of Health for providing assistance in completing and executing a written advance directive, including successful demonstration of competence in assisting a person in completing and executing a valid advance directive and successful passage of a written examination.

"Terminal condition" means a condition caused by injury, disease or illness from which, to a reasonable degree of medical probability a patient cannot recover and (i) the patient's death is imminent or (ii) the patient is in a persistent vegetative state.

"Witness" means any person over the age of 18, including a spouse or blood relative of the declarant. Employees of health care facilities and physician's offices, who act in good faith, shall be permitted to serve as witnesses for purposes of this article.

§ 54.1-2988. Immunity from liability; burden of proof; presumption.

A health care facility, physician or other person acting under the direction of a physician shall not be subject to criminal prosecution or civil liability or be deemed to have engaged in unprofessional conduct as a result of issuing a Durable Do Not Resuscitate Order or the providing, continuing, withholding or the withdrawal of health care under authorization or consent obtained in accordance with this article or as the result of the provision, withholding or withdrawal of ongoing health care in accordance with § 54.1-2990. No person or facility providing, continuing, withholding or withdrawing health care or physician issuing a Durable Do Not Resuscitate Order under authorization or consent obtained pursuant to this article or otherwise in accordance with § 54.1-2990 shall incur liability arising out of a claim to the extent the claim is based on lack of authorization or consent for such action.

Any agent or person identified in § 54.1-2986 who authorizes or consents to the providing, continuing, withholding or withdrawal of health care in accordance with this article shall not be subject, solely on the basis of that authorization or consent, to (i) criminal prosecution or civil liability for such action or (ii) liability for the cost of health care.

No individual serving on a facility's patient care consulting committee as defined in this article and no physician rendering a determination or affirmation in cases in which no patient care consulting committee exists shall be subject to criminal prosecution or civil liability for any act or omission done or made in good faith in the performance of such functions.

The provisions of this section shall apply unless it is shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the person authorizing or effectuating the providing, continuing, withholding or withdrawal of health care, or issuing, consenting to, making or following a Durable Do Not Resuscitate Order in accordance with § 54.1-2987.1 did not, in good faith, comply with the provisions of this article.

The distribution to patients of written advance directives in a form meeting the requirements of § 54.1-2984 and assistance to patients in the completion and execution of such forms by health care providers shall not constitute the unauthorized practice of law pursuant to Chapter 39 (§ 54.1-3900 et seq.).

An advance directive or Durable Do Not Resuscitate Order made, consented to or issued in accordance with this article shall be presumed to have been made, consented to, or issued voluntarily and in good faith by an adult who is capable of making an informed decision, physician or person authorized to consent on the patient's behalf.

§ 54.1-2988.1. Assistance with completing and executing advance directives.

A. The distribution of written advance directives in a form meeting the requirements of § 54.1-2984 and the provision of technical advice, consultation, and assistance to persons with regard to the completion and execution of such forms by (i) health care providers, including their authorized agents or employees, or (ii) qualified advance directive facilitators shall not constitute the unauthorized practice of law pursuant to Chapter 39 (§ 54.1-3900 et seq.).

B. The provision of ministerial assistance to a person with regard to the completion or execution of a written advance directive in a form meeting the requirements of § 54.1-2984 shall not constitute the unauthorized practice of law pursuant to Chapter 39 (§ 54.1-3900 et seq.). For the purpose of this subsection, "ministerial assistance" includes reading the form of an advance directive meeting the requirements of § 54.1-2984 to a person, discussing the person's preferences with regard to items included in the form, recording the person's answers on the form, and helping the person sign the form and obtain any other necessary signatures on the form. "Ministerial assistance" does not include the expressing of an opinion regarding the legal effects of any item contained in the form of an advance directive meeting the requirements of § 54.1-2984 or the offering of legal advice to a person completing or executing such form.

§ 54.1-2993.1. Qualified advance directive facilitators; requirements for training programs.

The Department of Health shall approve a program for the training of qualified advance directive facilitators that includes (i) instruction on the meaning of provisions of a form meeting the requirements of § 54.1-2984, including designating a health care agent and giving instructions relating to one or more specific types of health care, and (ii) requirements for demonstrating competence in assisting persons with completing and executing advance directives, including a written examination on information provided during the training program.

In determining whether a training program meets the criteria set forth in this section, the Department of Health may consult with the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, and the Virginia State Bar.

2. That the following training programs may be approved by the Department of Health as training programs the completion of which qualifies an individual as a qualified advance directive facilitator as defined in § 54.1-2982 of the Code of Virginia, as amended by this act: the Honoring Choices Virginia training program founded by the Richmond Academy of Medicine; the Virginia POST Collaborative Advance Care Planning Facilitator training program; the intensive facilitator training for persons who assist others in completing advance directives that is provided by the Institute of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policy of the University of Virginia under contract with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; and any training program that follows the Respecting Choices Advance Care Planning model for facilitator certification courses.