2023 New York Laws › PBH - Public Health › Article 25 - Maternal and Child Health › Title 1 - General Provisions › 2504 - Enabling Certain Persons to Consent for Certain Medical, Dental, Health and Hospital Services.

§  2504.  Enabling  certain  persons  to  consent for certain medical,
dental, health and hospital services. 1.  Any  person  who  is  eighteen
years of age or older, or is the parent of a child or has married, or is
a  homeless youth as defined in section five hundred thirty-two-a of the
executive law, or receives services at an approved runaway and  homeless
youth  crisis  services  program  or  a  transitional independent living
support program as defined in section five hundred thirty-two-a  of  the
executive  law,  may  give effective consent for medical, dental, health
and hospital services for themself, and the consent of no  other  person
shall be necessary.
2.  Any  person who has been married or who has borne a child may give
effective consent for medical, dental, health and hospital services  for
his  or  her child. Any person who has been designated pursuant to title
fifteen-A of article five of the general obligations law as a person  in
parental  relation to a child may consent to any medical, dental, health
and hospital services for such child  for  which  consent  is  otherwise
required  which  are  not:  (a)  major  medical  treatment as defined in
subdivision (a)  of  section  80.03  of  the  mental  hygiene  law;  (b)
electroconvulsive  therapy;  or  (c) the withdrawal or discontinuance of
medical treatment which is sustaining life functions.
3. Any person who is pregnant may give effective consent for  medical,
dental, health and hospital services relating to prenatal care.
4.  Medical,  dental,  health and hospital services may be rendered to
persons of any age without the consent of a parent,  legal  guardian  or
person  possessing  a  lawful  order of custody when, in the physician's
judgment an emergency exists and the person  is  in  immediate  need  of
medical attention and an attempt to secure consent would result in delay
of  treatment  which  would  increase  the  risk to the person's life or
health.
5. Where not otherwise already authorized by law to do so, any  person
in  a  parental  relation  to  a  child as defined in section twenty-one
hundred sixty-four of this chapter and,  (i)  a  grandparent,  an  adult
brother  or sister, an adult aunt or uncle, any of whom has assumed care
of the child and, (ii) an adult who  has  care  of  the  child  and  has
written authorization to consent from a person in a parental relation to
a  child  as  defined  in  section twenty-one hundred sixty-four of this
chapter, may give effective consent for the  immunization  of  a  child.
However,  a  person  other  than one in a parental relation to the child
shall not give consent under this subdivision if he or she has reason to
believe that a person in parental relation to the child  as  defined  in
section  twenty-one  hundred  sixty-four  of this chapter objects to the
immunization.
6. Anyone who acts in good faith based  on  the  representation  by  a
person  that  he  is  eligible  to consent pursuant to the terms of this
section shall be deemed to have received effective consent.
7. No person shall perform  a  pelvic  examination  or  supervise  the
performance  of  a  pelvic examination on an anesthetized or unconscious
patient unless the person performing the pelvic examination  is  legally
authorized  to  do  so and the person supervising the performance of the
pelvic examination is legally authorized to do so and:
(a) the patient or the patient's authorized representative gives prior
oral or written informed consent specific to the pelvic examination;
(b) the performance of a pelvic examination is  within  the  scope  of
care  for  the surgical procedure or diagnostic examination scheduled to
be performed on the patient and to which the patient has  already  given
oral or written consent; or
(c) the patient is unconscious and the pelvic examination is medically
necessary  for  diagnostic  or treatment purposes, and the patient is in

immediate need of medical attention and an  attempt  to  secure  consent
would  result  in  a delay of treatment which would increase the risk to
the patient's life or health.
Nothing in this subdivision diminishes any other requirement to obtain
informed consent for a pelvic examination or any other procedure.