GA Code § 31-39-4 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 31 - Health|Chapter 39 - Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation|§ 31-39-4. Persons Authorized to Issue Order Not to Resuscitate

  It shall be lawful for the attending physician to issue an order not to resuscitate pursuant to the requirements of this chapter. Any written order issued by the attending physician using the term "do not resuscitate," "DNR," "order not to resuscitate," "do not attempt resuscitation," "DNAR," "no code," "allow natural death," "AND," "order to allow natural death," or substantially similar language in the patient's chart shall constitute a legally sufficient order and shall authorize a physician, health care professional, nurse, physician assistant, caregiver, or emergency medical technician to withhold or withdraw cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Such an order shall remain effective, whether or not the patient is receiving treatment from or is a resident of a health care facility, until the order is canceled as provided in Code Section 31-39-5 or until consent for such order is revoked as provided in Code Section 31-39-6, whichever occurs earlier. An attending physician who has issued such an order and who transfers care of the patient to another physician shall inform the receiving physician and the health care facility, if applicable, of the order.   An adult person with decision-making capacity may consent orally or in writing to an order not to resuscitate and its implementation at a present or future date, regardless of that person's mental or physical condition on such future date.If the attending physician determines at any time that an order not to resuscitate issued at the request of the patient is no longer appropriate because the patient's medical condition has improved, the physician shall immediately notify the patient.   The appropriate authorized person may, after being informed of the provisions of this Code section, consent orally or in writing to an order not to resuscitate for an adult candidate for nonresuscitation; provided, however, that such consent is based in good faith upon what such authorized person determines such candidate for nonresuscitation would have wanted had such candidate for nonresuscitation understood the circumstances under which such order is being considered. Where such authorized person is an agent under a durable power of attorney for health care or a health care agent under an advance directive for health care appointed pursuant to Chapter 32 of this title or where a Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment form with a code status of "do not resuscitate" or its equivalent has been executed in accordance with Code Section 31-1-14 by an authorized person who is an agent under a durable power of attorney for health care or a health care agent under an advance directive for health care appointed pursuant to Chapter 32 of this title, the attending physician may issue an order not to resuscitate a candidate for nonresuscitation pursuant to the requirements of this chapter without the concurrence of another physician, notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (4) of Code Section 31-39-2.   When a minor child is a candidate for nonresuscitation, an order not to resuscitate may be issued only with the oral or written consent of the minor's parent, unless an exception applies pursuant to subsection (e) of this Code section. If in the opinion of the attending physician the minor is of sufficient maturity to understand the nature and effect of an order not to resuscitate, then no such order shall be valid without the assent of such minor.   If none of the persons specified in subsections (b), (c), and (d) of this Code section is reasonably available or competent to make a decision regarding an order not to resuscitate, an attending physician may issue an order not to resuscitate for a patient, provided that:   Such physician determines with the concurrence of a second physician, in writing in the patient's medical record, that such patient is a candidate for nonresuscitation;   An ethics committee or similar panel, as designated by the health care facility, concurs in the opinion of the attending physician and the concurring physician that the patient is a candidate for nonresuscitation; and   The patient is receiving inpatient or outpatient treatment from or is a resident of a health care facility other than a hospice or a home health agency.       (Code 1981, §31-39-4, enacted by Ga. L. 1991, p. 1853, § 1; Ga. L. 1994, p. 672, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 10, § 31; Ga. L. 1995, p. 722, §§ 2, 2.1; Ga. L. 2009, p. 298, § 1/HB 69; Ga. L. 2011, p. 379, § 2/HB 275; Ga. L. 2015, p. 305, § 2/SB 109; Ga. L. 2021, p. 546, § 2-2/HB 128.)    The 2021 amendment,  effective July 1, 2021, rewrote the first sentence of subsection (d), which read: "Any parent may consent orally or in writing to an order not to resuscitate for his or her minor child when such child is a candidate for nonresuscitation."   Editor's notes.   - 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 article, "Are There Checks and Balances on Terminating the Lives of Children with Disabilities? Should There Be?," see 25 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 959 (2009).   JUDICIAL DECISIONS    Cited in Edwards v. Shumate, 266 Ga. 374, 468 S.E.2d 23 (1996).