Bill > H1398

This bill amends the existing law on healthcare proxies in Massachusetts. It allows the attending physician to designate another willing physician as a patient's proxy decision-maker if the previously designated healthcare agent, proxy, or alternate is unavailable, unwilling, or incompetent to make decisions. The attending physician must make reasonable efforts to contact the patient's proxy, obtain an independent determination of the patient's lack of decisional capacity, consult with the medical ethics committee, and document the identity of the designated proxy in the medical record. The bill explicitly states that it does not authorize physician-assisted suicide.

Justice

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/H1398