2015 Delaware Code
Title 16 - Health and Safety
CHAPTER 25A. DELAWARE MEDICAL ORDERS FOR SCOPE OF TREATMENT ACT [EFFECTIVE UPON FULFILLMENT OF 80 DEL. LAWS, C. 18, § 5]
§ 2516A Assumptions and presumptions [Effective upon fulfillment of 80 Del. Laws, c. 18, § 5].

(a) Neither the execution of a DMOST form under this chapter nor the fact that health care is withheld or withdrawn from a patient in accordance therewith shall, for any purpose, constitute a suicide.

(b) The completion of a DMOST form pursuant to this chapter shall not be deemed or presumed to modify the terms of an existing insurance policy. No policy of insurance shall be legally impaired or invalidated in any manner by the withholding or withdrawal of health care from an insured patient, notwithstanding any term of the policy to the contrary.

(c) No health-care institution, health-care provider, health-care service plan, insurer issuing disability insurance, self-insured employee welfare benefit plan, nonprofit hospital service plan, or any other type of direct or indirect provider of health-care benefits or services, shall require any individual to execute a DMOST form as a condition to being insured, to receiving care, or to being admitted to a health-care institution in order to receiving health-care services.

80 Del. Laws, c. 18, § 1.;

§ 2517A Penalties [Effective upon fulfillment of 80 Del. Laws, c. 18, § 5]

(a) A health-care provider who fails to act in accordance with the requirements of this chapter is subject to discipline for professional misconduct.

(b) A health-care institution that intentionally fails to act in accordance with the requirements of this chapter shall be liable for a civil penalty of not more than $1,000 for each offense. For the purposes of this subsection, each violation shall constitute a separate offense.

(c) An emergency-care provider subject to regulation by the Department who intentionally fails to act in accordance with the requirements of this chapter is subject to such disciplinary measures as the Secretary of Department deems necessary and consistent with the Department's statutory authority.

(d) An individual who intentionally or knowingly commits any of the following acts is guilty of a class G felony:

(1) Concealing, canceling, defacing, obliterating, or withholding personal knowledge of a completed DMOST form or a modification or revocation thereof, without the patient's consent, or if the patient lacks decision-making capacity, without the consent of the patient's authorized representative;

(2) Falsifying or forging a completed DMOST form or a modification or revocation thereof; or

(3) Coercing or fraudulently inducing the completion of a DMOST form or a modification or revocation thereof by a patient or, if a patient lacks decision-making capacity, by a patient's authorized representative.

(e) Any organization that is a health-care provider, health-care institution, or "person'' as defined in § 102(1) of Title 18 who intentionally or knowingly requires or prohibits the completion of a DMOST form or a modification or revocation thereof as a condition of coverage under any policy of health or life insurance, or an annuity, or a public benefits program, or as a condition of the provision of health care is guilty of a class A misdemeanor for each and every act or violation, and may be subject to suspension or revocation of such person's authority to do business in Delaware.

(f) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to repeal any sanctions applicable under any other law.

(g) The Superior Court shall have jurisdiction over all civil monetary penalties and offenses under this chapter.

80 Del. Laws, c. 18, § 1.;

§ 2518A Capacity [Effective upon fulfillment of 80 Del. Laws, c. 18, § 5]

(a) An adult individual is presumed to have capacity to make a health-care decision and to execute, modify or void a DMOST form.

(b) A determination that a patient lacks decision-making capacity must be made by a physician, and if a patient's authorized representative is executing the DMOST form such determination by a physician shall be required.

80 Del. Laws, c. 18, § 1.;

§ 2519A Severability [Effective upon fulfillment of 80 Del. Laws, c. 18, § 5]

The provisions of this chapter are severable, and if any word, phrase, clause, sentence, section, or provision of this chapter is for any reason held to be unconstitutional, the decision of the court shall not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions of this chapter. It is hereby declared as the legislative intent that this chapter would have been adopted had such unconstitutional word, phrase, clause, sentence, section or provision thereof not been included herein.

80 Del. Laws, c. 18, § 1.;

§ 2520A Effect of copy [Effective upon fulfillment of 80 Del. Laws, c. 18, § 5]

A copy of a DMOST form or revocation of a DMOST form has the same effect as the original.

80 Del. Laws, c. 18, § 1.;