As Reported by House Civil and Commercial Law Committee 1
123rd General Assembly 4
Regular Session Sub. H. B. No. 494 5
1999-2000 6
REPRESENTATIVES WOMER BENJAMIN-SALERNO-DePIERO-SULZER- 8
WILLAMOWSKI-JERSE-PETERSON-SUTTON 9
_________________________________________________________________ 10
A B I L L
To amend sections 1337.12, 1337.13, 1337.17, and 12
2133.02 of the Revised Code to require that 14
certain statements in a living will or a durable 15
power of attorney for health care be in 16
conspicuous type or capital letters and to make
other changes in the form of living wills and 17
durable powers of attorney for health care. 18
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO: 20
Section 1. That sections 1337.12, 1337.13, 1337.17, and 22
2133.02 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows: 24
Sec. 1337.12. (A)(1) An adult who is of sound mind 33
voluntarily may create a valid durable power of attorney for 34
health care by executing a durable power of attorney, in 35
accordance with division (B) of section 1337.09 of the Revised 36
Code, that authorizes an attorney in fact as described in 37
division (A)(2) of this section to make health care decisions for 38
the principal at any time that the attending physician of the 39
principal determines that the principal has lost the capacity to 41
make informed health care decisions for the principal. Except as 42
otherwise provided in divisions (B) to (F) of section 1337.13 of 43
the Revised Code, the authorization may include the right to give 44
informed consent, to refuse to give informed consent, or to 45
withdraw informed consent to any health care that is being or 46
could be provided to the principal. Additionally, to be valid, a 47
durable power of attorney for health care shall satisfy both of 48
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the following: 49
(a) It shall be signed AT THE END OF THE INSTRUMENT by the 51
principal and SHALL state the date of its execution. 53
(b) It shall be witnessed in accordance with division (B) 55
of this section or be acknowledged by the principal in accordance 56
with division (C) of this section. 57
(2) Except as otherwise provided in this division, a 59
durable power of attorney for health care may designate any 60
competent adult as the attorney in fact. The attending physician 61
of the principal and an administrator of any nursing home in 62
which the principal is receiving care shall not be designated as 63
an attorney in fact in, or act as an attorney in fact pursuant 64
to, a durable power of attorney for health care. An employee or 65
agent of the attending physician of the principal and an employee 66
or agent of any health care facility in which the principal is 67
being treated shall not be designated as an attorney in fact in, 68
or act as an attorney in fact pursuant to, a durable power of 69
attorney for health care, except that these limitations do not 70
preclude a principal from designating either type of employee or 71
agent as the principal's attorney in fact if the individual is a 73
competent adult and related to the principal by blood, marriage, 74
or adoption, or if the individual is a competent adult and the 75
principal and the individual are members of the same religious 76
order. 77
(3) A durable power of attorney for health care shall not 79
expire, unless the principal specifies an expiration date in the 80
instrument. However, when a durable power of attorney contains 81
an expiration date, if the principal lacks the capacity to make 82
informed health care decisions for the principal on the 83
expiration date, the instrument shall continue in effect until 85
the principal regains the capacity to make informed health care 86
decisions for the principal. 87
(B) If witnessed for purposes of division (A)(1)(b) of 89
this section, a durable power of attorney for health care shall 90
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be witnessed by at least two individuals who are adults and who 91
are not ineligible to be witnesses under this division. Any 92
person who is related to the principal by blood, marriage, or 93
adoption, any person who is designated as the attorney in fact in 94
the instrument, the attending physician of the principal, and the 95
administrator of any nursing home in which the principal is 96
receiving care are ineligible to be witnesses. 97
The witnessing of a durable power of attorney for health 99
care shall involve the principal signing, or acknowledging the 101
principal's signature on, AT THE END OF the instrument in the 102
presence of each witness. Then, each witness shall subscribe the
witness's signature on the durable power of attorney for health 104
care AFTER THE SIGNATURE OF THE PRINCIPAL and, by doing so, 105
attest to the witness's belief that the principal appears to be 106
of sound mind and not under or subject to duress, fraud, or undue 107
influence. THE SIGNATURES OF THE PRINCIPAL AND THE WITNESSES 108
UNDER THIS DIVISION ARE NOT REQUIRED TO APPEAR ON THE SAME PAGE 109
OF THE INSTRUMENT.
(C) If acknowledged for purposes of division (A)(1)(b) of 111
this section, a durable power of attorney for health care shall 112
be acknowledged before a notary public, who shall make the 113
certification described in section 147.53 of the Revised Code and 114
also shall attest that the principal appears to be of sound mind 115
and not under or subject to duress, fraud, or undue influence. 116
(D)(1) If a principal has both a valid durable power of 119
attorney for health care and a valid declaration, division (B) of 120
section 2133.03 of the Revised Code applies. If a principal has 123
both a valid durable power of attorney for health care and a DNR 124
identification that is based upon a valid declaration and if the 125
declaration supersedes the durable power of attorney for health 126
care under division (B) of section 2133.03 of the Revised Code, 129
the DNR identification supersedes the durable power of attorney 131
for health care to the extent of any conflict between the two. A 132
valid durable power of attorney for health care supersedes any 133
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DNR identification that is based upon a do-not-resuscitate order 134
that a physician issued for the principal which is inconsistent 136
with the durable power of attorney for health care or a valid 137
decision by the attorney in fact under a durable power of
attorney. 138
(2) As used in division (D) of this section: 140
(a) "Declaration" has the same meaning as in section 142
2133.01 of the Revised Code. 143
(b) "Do-not-resuscitate order" and "DNR identification" 145
have the same meanings as in section 2133.21 of the Revised Code. 146
Sec. 1337.13. (A)(1) An attorney in fact under a durable 155
power of attorney for health care shall make health care 156
decisions for the principal only if the instrument substantially 157
complies with section 1337.12 of the Revised Code and 158
specifically authorizes the attorney in fact to make health care 159
decisions for the principal, and only if the attending physician 160
of the principal determines that he THE PRINCIPAL has lost the 161
capacity to make informed health care decisions for himself THE 163
PRINCIPAL. Except as otherwise provided in divisions (B) to (F) 165
of this section and subject to any specific limitations in the 166
instrument, the attorney in fact may make health care decisions 167
for the principal to the same extent as the principal could make 168
those decisions for himself THE PRINCIPAL if he THE PRINCIPAL had 170
the capacity to do so. Except as otherwise provided in divisions 172
(B) to (F) of this section, in exercising his THAT authority, the 173
attorney in fact shall act consistently with the desires of the 174
principal or, if the desires of the principal are unknown, shall 175
act in the best interest of the principal.
(2) This section does not affect, and shall not be 177
construed as affecting, any right that the person designated as 178
attorney in fact in a durable power of attorney for health care 179
may have, apart from the instrument, to make or participate in 180
the making of health care decisions on behalf of the principal. 181
(3) Unless the right is limited in a durable power of 183
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attorney for health care, when acting pursuant to the instrument, 184
the attorney in fact has the same right as the principal to 185
receive information about proposed health care, to review health 186
care records, and to consent to the disclosure of health care 187
records. 188
(B)(1) An attorney in fact under a durable power of 190
attorney for health care does not have authority, on behalf of 191
the principal, to refuse or withdraw informed consent to 192
life-sustaining treatment, unless the principal is in a terminal 193
condition or in a permanently unconscious state and unless the 194
applicable requirements of divisions (B)(2) and (3) of this 195
section are satisfied. 196
(2) In order for an attorney in fact to refuse or withdraw 198
informed consent to life-sustaining treatment for a principal who 199
is in a permanently unconscious state, the consulting physician 200
associated with the determination that the principal is in the 201
permanently unconscious state shall be a physician who, by virtue 202
of advanced education or training, of a practice limited to 203
particular diseases, illnesses, injuries, therapies, or branches 204
of medicine and surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery, of 205
certification as a specialist in a particular branch of medicine 206
or surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery, or of experience 207
acquired in the practice of medicine and surgery or osteopathic 208
medicine and surgery, is qualified to determine whether the 209
principal is in a permanently unconscious state. 210
(3) In order for an attorney in fact to refuse or withdraw 212
informed consent to life-sustaining treatment for a principal who 213
is in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state, 214
the attending physician of the principal shall determine, in good 215
faith, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, and in 216
accordance with reasonable medical standards, that there is no 217
reasonable possibility that the principal will regain the 218
capacity to make informed health care decisions for himself THE 219
PRINCIPAL. 220
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(C) Except as otherwise provided in this division, an 222
attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney for health 223
care does not have authority, on behalf of the principal, to 224
refuse or withdraw informed consent to health care necessary to 225
provide comfort care. This division does not preclude, and shall 226
not be construed as precluding, an attorney in fact under a 227
durable power of attorney for health care from refusing or 228
withdrawing informed consent to the provision of nutrition or 229
hydration to the principal if, under the circumstances described 230
in division (E) of this section, the attorney in fact would not 231
be prohibited from refusing or withdrawing informed consent to 232
the provision of nutrition or hydration to the principal. 233
(D) An attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney 235
for health care does not have authority to refuse or withdraw 236
informed consent to health care for a principal who is pregnant 237
if the refusal or withdrawal of the health care would terminate 238
the pregnancy, unless the pregnancy or the health care would pose 239
a substantial risk to the life of the principal, or unless the 240
principal's attending physician and at least one other physician 241
who has examined the principal determine, to a reasonable degree 242
of medical certainty and in accordance with reasonable medical 243
standards, that the fetus would not be born alive. 244
(E) An attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney 246
for health care does not have authority to refuse or withdraw 247
informed consent to the provision of nutrition or hydration to 248
the principal, unless the principal is in a terminal condition or 249
in a permanently unconscious state and unless the following 250
apply: 251
(1) The principal's attending physician and at least one 253
other physician who has examined the principal determine, to a 254
reasonable degree of medical certainty and in accordance with 255
reasonable medical standards, that nutrition or hydration will 256
not or no longer will serve to provide comfort to, or alleviate 257
pain of, the principal. 258
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(2) If the principal is in a permanently unconscious 260
state, the principal has authorized the attorney in fact to 261
refuse or withdraw informed consent to the provision of nutrition 262
or hydration to him THE PRINCIPAL when he THE PRINCIPAL is in a 264
permanently unconscious state by doing both of the following in 265
the durable power of attorney for health care: 266
(a) Including a statement in capital letters OR OTHER 268
CONSPICUOUS TYPE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, A DIFFERENT 269
FONT, BIGGER TYPE, OR BOLDFACE TYPE, that the attorney in fact 272
may refuse or withdraw informed consent to the provision of 273
nutrition or hydration to the principal if he THE PRINCIPAL is in 274
a permanently unconscious state and if the determination 275
described in division (E)(1) of this section is made, or checking 276
or otherwise marking a box or line that is adjacent to a similar 277
statement on a printed form of a durable power of attorney for 278
health care; 279
(b) Placing his THE PRINCIPAL'S initials or signature 281
underneath or adjacent to the statement, check, or other mark 283
described in division (E)(2)(a) of this section. 284
(3) If the principal is in a permanently unconscious 286
state, his THE PRINCIPAL'S attending physician determines, in 287
good faith, that the principal authorized the attorney in fact to 289
refuse or withdraw informed consent to the provision of nutrition 290
or hydration to him THE PRINCIPAL when he THE PRINCIPAL is in a 292
permanently unconscious state by complying with the requirements 293
of divisions (E)(2)(a) and (b) of this section. 294
(F) An attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney 296
for health care does not have authority to withdraw informed 297
consent to any health care to which the principal previously 298
consented, unless at least one of the following applies: 299
(1) A change in the physical condition of the principal 301
has significantly decreased the benefit of that health care to 302
the principal. 303
(2) The health care is not, or is no longer, significantly 305
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effective in achieving the purposes for which the principal 306
consented to its use. 307
Sec. 1337.17. A printed form of durable power of attorney 316
for health care may be sold or otherwise distributed in this 317
state for use by adults who are not advised by an attorney. By 318
use of such a printed form, a principal may authorize an attorney 319
in fact to make health care decisions on his THE PRINCIPAL'S 320
behalf, but the printed form shall not be used as an instrument 322
for granting authority for any other decisions. Any printed form 323
that is sold or otherwise distributed in this state for the 324
purpose described in this section shall include the following 325
notice:
"Notice to Adult Executing This Document 326
This is an important legal document. Before executing this 328
document, you should know these facts: 329
This document gives the person you designate (the attorney 331
in fact) the power to make most* health care decisions for you if 332
you lose the capacity to make informed health care decisions for 333
yourself. This power is effective only when your attending 334
physician determines that you have lost the capacity to make 335
informed health care decisions for yourself and, notwithstanding 336
this document, as long as you have the capacity to make informed 337
health care decisions for yourself, you retain the right to make 338
all medical and other health care decisions for yourself. 339
You may include specific limitations in this document on 341
the authority of the attorney in fact to make health care 342
decisions for you. 343
Subject to any specific limitations you include in this 345
document, if your attending physician determines that you have 346
lost the capacity to make an informed decision on a health care 347
matter, the attorney in fact generally* will be authorized by 348
this document to make health care decisions for you to the same 349
extent as you could make those decisions yourself, if you had the 350
capacity to do so. The authority of the attorney in fact to make 351
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health care decisions for you generally* will include the 352
authority to give informed consent, to refuse to give informed 353
consent, or to withdraw informed consent to any care, treatment, 354
service, or procedure to maintain, diagnose, or treat a physical 355
or mental condition. 356
However*, even if the attorney in fact has general 358
authority to make health care decisions for you under this 359
document, the attorney in fact never* will be authorized to do 360
any of the following: 361
(1) Refuse or withdraw informed consent to life-sustaining 363
treatment (unless your attending physician and one other 364
physician who examines you determine, to a reasonable degree of 365
medical certainty and in accordance with reasonable medical 366
standards, that either of the following applies: 367
(a) You are suffering from an irreversible, incurable, and 369
untreatable condition caused by disease, illness, or injury from 370
which (i) there can be no recovery and (ii) your death is likely 371
to occur within a relatively short time if life-sustaining 372
treatment is not administered, and your attending physician 373
additionally determines, to a reasonable degree of medical 374
certainty and in accordance with reasonable medical standards, 375
that there is no reasonable possibility that you will regain the 376
capacity to make informed health care decisions for yourself. 377
(b) You are in a state of permanent unconsciousness that 379
is characterized by you being irreversibly unaware of yourself 380
and your environment and by a total loss of cerebral cortical 381
functioning, resulting in you having no capacity to experience 382
pain or suffering, and your attending physician additionally 383
determines, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty and in 384
accordance with reasonable medical standards, that there is no 385
reasonable possibility that you will regain the capacity to make 386
informed health care decisions for yourself); 387
(2) Refuse or withdraw informed consent to health care 389
necessary to provide you with comfort care (except that, if he 390
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THE ATTORNEY IN FACT is not prohibited from doing so under (4) 392
below, the attorney in fact could refuse or withdraw informed 393
consent to the provision of nutrition or hydration to you as 394
described under (4) below). (You should understand that comfort 395
care is defined in Ohio law to mean artificially or 396
technologically administered sustenance (nutrition) or fluids 397
(hydration) when administered to diminish your pain or 398
discomfort, not to postpone your death, and any other medical or 399
nursing procedure, treatment, intervention, or other measure that 400
would be taken to diminish your pain or discomfort, not to 401
postpone your death. Consequently, if your attending physician 402
were to determine that a previously described medical or nursing 403
procedure, treatment, intervention, or other measure will not or 404
no longer will serve to provide comfort to you or alleviate your 405
pain, then, subject to (4) below, your attorney in fact would be 406
authorized to refuse or withdraw informed consent to the 407
procedure, treatment, intervention, or other measure.*); 408
(3) Refuse or withdraw informed consent to health care for 410
you if you are pregnant and if the refusal or withdrawal would 411
terminate the pregnancy (unless the pregnancy or health care 412
would pose a substantial risk to your life, or unless your 413
attending physician and at least one other physician who examines 414
you determine, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty and in 415
accordance with reasonable medical standards, that the fetus 416
would not be born alive); 417
(4) Refuse or withdraw informed consent to the provision 419
of artificially or technologically administered sustenance 420
(nutrition) or fluids (hydration) to you, unless: 421
(a) You are in a terminal condition or in a permanently 423
unconscious state. 424
(b) Your attending physician and at least one other 426
physician who has examined you determine, to a reasonable degree 427
of medical certainty and in accordance with reasonable medical 428
standards, that nutrition or hydration will not or no longer will 429
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serve to provide comfort to you or alleviate your pain. 430
(c) If, but only if, you are in a permanently unconscious 432
state, you authorize the attorney in fact to refuse or withdraw 433
informed consent to the provision of nutrition or hydration to 434
you by doing both of the following in this document: 435
(i) Including a statement in capital letters OR OTHER 437
CONSPICUOUS TYPE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, A DIFFERENT 438
FONT, BIGGER TYPE, OR BOLDFACE TYPE, that the attorney in fact 441
may refuse or withdraw informed consent to the provision of 442
nutrition or hydration to you if you are in a permanently 443
unconscious state and if the determination that nutrition or 444
hydration will not or no longer will serve to provide comfort to 445
you or alleviate your pain is made, or checking or otherwise 446
marking a box or line (if any) that is adjacent to a similar 447
statement on this document;
(ii) Placing your initials or signature underneath or 449
adjacent to the statement, check, or other mark previously 450
described. 451
(d) Your attending physician determines, in good faith, 453
that you authorized the attorney in fact to refuse or withdraw 454
informed consent to the provision of nutrition or hydration to 455
you if you are in a permanently unconscious state by complying 456
with the requirements of (4)(c)(i) and (ii) above. 457
(5) Withdraw informed consent to any health care to which 459
you previously consented, unless a change in your physical 460
condition has significantly decreased the benefit of that health 461
care to you, or unless the health care is not, or is no longer, 462
significantly effective in achieving the purposes for which you 463
consented to its use. 464
Additionally, when exercising his authority to make health 466
care decisions for you, the attorney in fact will have to act 467
consistently with your desires or, if your desires are unknown, 468
to act in your best interest. You may express your desires to 469
the attorney in fact by including them in this document or by 470
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making them known to him THE ATTORNEY IN FACT in another manner. 471
When acting pursuant to this document, the attorney in fact 473
generally* will have the same rights that you have to receive 474
information about proposed health care, to review health care 475
records, and to consent to the disclosure of health care records. 476
You can limit that right in this document if you so choose. 477
Generally, you may designate any competent adult as the 479
attorney in fact under this document. However, you cannot* 480
designate your attending physician or the administrator of any 481
nursing home in which you are receiving care as the attorney in 482
fact under this document. Additionally, you cannot* designate an 483
employee or agent of your attending physician, or an employee or 484
agent of a health care facility at which you are being treated, 485
as the attorney in fact under this document, unless either type 486
of employee or agent is a competent adult and related to you by 487
blood, marriage, or adoption, or unless either type of employee 488
or agent is a competent adult and you and the employee or agent 489
are members of the same religious order. 490
This document has no expiration date under Ohio law, but 492
you may choose to specify a date upon which your durable power of 493
attorney for health care generally will expire. However, if you 494
specify an expiration date and then lack the capacity to make 495
informed health care decisions for yourself on that date, the 496
document and the power it grants to your attorney in fact will 497
continue in effect until you regain the capacity to make informed 498
health care decisions for yourself. 499
You have the right to revoke the designation of the 501
attorney in fact and the right to revoke this entire document at 502
any time and in any manner. Any such revocation generally will 503
be effective when you express your intention to make the 504
revocation. However, if you made your attending physician aware 505
of this document, any such revocation will be effective only when 506
you communicate it to your attending physician, or when a witness 507
to the revocation or other health care personnel to whom the 508
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revocation is communicated by such a witness communicate it to 509
your attending physician. 510
If you execute this document and create a valid durable 512
power of attorney for health care with it, it will revoke any 513
prior, valid durable power of attorney for health care that you 514
created, unless you indicate otherwise in this document. 515
This document is not valid as a durable power of attorney 517
for health care unless it is acknowledged before a notary public 518
or is signed by at least two adult witnesses who are present when 519
you sign or acknowledge your signature. No person who is related 520
to you by blood, marriage, or adoption may be a witness. The 521
attorney in fact, your attending physician, and the administrator 522
of any nursing home in which you are receiving care also are 523
ineligible to be witnesses. 524
If there is anything in this document that you do not 526
understand, you should ask your lawyer to explain it to you." 527
In the preceding notice, the single words, and the two 529
sentences in the second set of parentheses in paragraph (2), 530
followed by an asterisk and all of paragraph (4) should SHALL 531
appear in the printed form in capital letters OR OTHER 533
CONSPICUOUS TYPE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, A DIFFERENT FONT, 534
BIGGER TYPE, OR BOLDFACE TYPE.
Sec. 2133.02. (A)(1) An adult who is of sound mind 543
voluntarily may execute at any time a declaration governing the 544
use or continuation, or the withholding or withdrawal, of 545
life-sustaining treatment. The declaration shall be signed AT 546
THE END by the declarant or by another individual at the 547
direction of the declarant, state the date of its execution, and 548
either be witnessed as described in division (B)(1) of this 549
section or be acknowledged by the declarant in accordance with 550
division (B)(2) of this section. The declaration may include a 551
designation by the declarant of one or more persons who are to be 552
notified by the declarant's attending physician at any time that 553
life-sustaining treatment would be withheld or withdrawn pursuant 554
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to the declaration. The declaration may include a specific 555
authorization for the use or continuation or the withholding or 556
withdrawal of CPR, but the failure to include a specific 558
authorization for the withholding or withdrawal of CPR does not 559
preclude the withholding or withdrawal of CPR in accordance with 560
sections 2133.01 to 2133.15 or sections 2133.21 to 2133.26 of the 561
Revised Code.
(2) Depending upon whether the declarant intends the 563
declaration to apply when the declarant is in a terminal 564
condition, in a permanently unconscious state, or in either a 566
terminal condition or a permanently unconscious state, the 567
declarant's declaration shall use either or both of the terms 569
"terminal condition" and "permanently unconscious state" and 570
shall define or otherwise explain those terms in capital letters 571
and in a manner that is substantially consistent with the 572
provisions of section 2133.01 of the Revised Code. 573
(3)(a) If a declarant who has authorized the withholding 575
or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment intends that the 576
declarant's attending physician withhold or withdraw nutrition or 577
hydration when the declarant is in a permanently unconscious 579
state and when the nutrition and hydration will not or no longer 580
will serve to provide comfort to the declarant or alleviate the 582
declarant's pain, then the declarant shall authorize the 583
declarant's attending physician to withhold or withdraw nutrition 584
or hydration when the declarant is in the permanently unconscious 585
state by doing both of the following in the declaration: 586
(i) Including a statement in capital letters OR OTHER 588
CONSPICUOUS TYPE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, A DIFFERENT 589
FONT, BIGGER TYPE, OR BOLDFACE TYPE, that the declarant's 592
attending physician may withhold or withdraw nutrition and
hydration if the declarant is in a permanently unconscious state 594
and if the declarant's attending physician and at least one other 595
physician who has examined the declarant determine, to a 596
reasonable degree of medical certainty and in accordance with 598
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reasonable medical standards, that nutrition or hydration will 599
not or no longer will serve to provide comfort to the declarant 600
or alleviate the declarant's pain, or checking or otherwise 602
marking a box or line that is adjacent to a similar statement on 603
a printed form of a declaration;
(ii) Placing the declarant's initials or signature 605
underneath or adjacent to the statement, check, or other mark 607
described in division (A)(3)(a)(i) of this section. 608
(b) Division (A)(3)(a) of this section does not apply to 610
the extent that a declaration authorizes the withholding or 611
withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment when a declarant is in a 612
terminal condition. The provisions of division (E) of section 613
2133.12 of the Revised Code pertaining to comfort care shall 614
apply to a declarant in a terminal condition. 615
(B)(1) If witnessed for purposes of division (A) of this 617
section, a declaration shall be witnessed by two individuals as 618
described in this division in whose presence the declarant, or 619
another individual at the direction of the declarant, signed the 620
declaration. The witnesses to a declaration shall be adults who 621
are not related to the declarant by blood, marriage, or adoption, 622
who are not the attending physician of the declarant, and who are 623
not the administrator of any nursing home in which the declarant 624
is receiving care. Each witness shall subscribe the witness' 626
signature on the declaration AFTER THE SIGNATURE OF THE DECLARANT 627
OR OTHER INDIVIDUAL AT THE DIRECTION OF THE DECLARANT and, by 628
doing so, attest to the witness' belief that the declarant 630
appears to be of sound mind and not under or subject to duress,
fraud, or undue influence. THE SIGNATURES OF THE DECLARANT OR 631
OTHER INDIVIDUAL AT THE DIRECTION OF THE DECLARANT UNDER DIVISION 632
(A) OF THIS SECTION AND OF THE WITNESSES UNDER THIS DIVISION ARE 633
NOT REQUIRED TO APPEAR ON THE SAME PAGE OF THE DECLARATION. 634
(2) If acknowledged for purposes of division (A) of this 636
section, a declaration shall be acknowledged before a notary 637
public, who shall make the certification described in section 638
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147.53 of the Revised Code and also shall attest that the 639
declarant appears to be of sound mind and not under or subject to 640
duress, fraud, or undue influence. 641
(C) An attending physician, or other health care personnel 643
acting under the direction of an attending physician, who is 644
furnished a copy of a declaration shall make it a part of the 645
declarant's medical record and, when section 2133.05 of the 646
Revised Code is applicable, also shall comply with that section. 647
(D)(1) Subject to division (D)(2) of this section, an 649
attending physician of a declarant or a health care facility in 650
which a declarant is confined may refuse to comply or allow 651
compliance with the declarant's declaration on the basis of a 652
matter of conscience or on another basis. An employee or agent 653
of an attending physician of a declarant or of a health care 654
facility in which a declarant is confined may refuse to comply 655
with the declarant's declaration on the basis of a matter of 656
conscience. 657
(2) If an attending physician of a declarant or a health 659
care facility in which a declarant is confined is not willing or 660
not able to comply or allow compliance with the declarant's 661
declaration, the physician or facility promptly shall so advise 662
the declarant and comply with the provisions of section 2133.10 663
of the Revised Code, or, if the declaration has become operative 664
as described in division (A) of section 2133.03 of the Revised 665
Code, shall comply with the provisions of section 2133.10 of the 666
Revised Code. 667
(E) As used in this section, "CPR" has the same meaning as 670
in section 2133.21 of the Revised Code.
Section 2. That existing sections 1337.12, 1337.13, 672
1337.17, and 2133.02 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed. 674
Section 3. (A) The amendments made by this act to 676
sections 1337.12, 1337.13, and 1337.17 of the Revised Code do not 677
invalidate an otherwise valid durable power of attorney for 678
health care that was executed prior to the effective date of this 679
17
act in conformity with those sections as they existed on the date 680
of the execution of the durable power of attorney for health 681
care.
(B) The amendments made by this act to section 2133.02 of 683
the Revised Code do not invalidate an otherwise valid declaration 684
governing the use or continuation, or the withholding or 685
withdrawal, of life-sustaining treatment that was executed prior 686
to the effective date of this act in conformity with that section 687
as it existed on the date of the execution of the declaration. 688