Bioethics, Public Health, and the Social Sciences for the Medical Professions by Amy E. Caruso Brown & Travis R. Hobart & Cynthia B. Morrow

Author:Amy E. Caruso Brown & Travis R. Hobart & Cynthia B. Morrow
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030035440
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

6.Under what circumstances, if any, can a healthcare proxy be overruled?

Both law and practice can vary from state to state on this question. As a general rule, a proxy who is not able, available, or willing to serve as proxy needs not be recognized as the proxy, and the healthcare team may look for others, first to the alternate proxy if one has been designated and then to family members in order of priority under state law, to make decisions on the patient’s behalf. If there is a proxy who is, or wants to be, involved in the patient’s care, he or she may not simply be overruled when others disagree. Rather the proxy may be formally overruled or removed from his or her authority as proxy only on specific grounds. Law and ethics typically support overriding the proxy if he or she is disregarding the patient’s wishes, is acting with ill motive (perhaps seeking to keep the patient alive to continue collection of social security benefits), or has become unable, unwilling, or unavailable to meet the responsibilities of the proxy appointment. Depending on the reason(s) for questioning the proxy’s authority, it may be necessary to contact hospital counsel and/or to seek court involvement in order to remove a proxy or override his or her decisions. Like other advance directives, proxy forms are legal documents that typically require the formalities of signing and witnessing in order to be legally valid. On occasion these formalities are not met, calling into question the validity of the proxy appointment. In general, before concluding that a proxy document is not legally valid, hospital policy and/ or hospital counsel should be consulted.

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