This document requires the assistance of a lawyer. The person named in this document should be the same person named in the Health Care Proxy Section II of the Advance Directive for Health Care. Do not confuse a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care with the Durable Power of Attorney. An agent named in a Durable Power of Attorney is not authorized to make health care decisions. The document authorizes a person to make only financial and business decisions for the principal.
People often like to name one of their children.
However, a proxy does not need to be a family member and can be a close friend or a counselor. More important, the proxy should be someone who knows and understands the person's wishes and is easily available for communication with the attending physician. If a person has completed an Advance Directive and has been diagnosed as terminally ill or persistently unconscious by two physicians, as defined in the directive, and the attending physician does not want to comply with the patient's wishes, that physician must act promptly to arrange for care by another physician or health care provider. The law protects a person from misjudgment by a physician by requiring a separate opinion by a second physician who must agree that your condition is terminal or that you are persistently unconscious. This second opinion must be made a part of the patient's medical record.