2013 District of Columbia Code
Division III — DECEDENTS' ESTATES AND FIDUCIARY RELATIONS
Title 21 — FIDUCIARY RELATIONS AND PERSONS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS
Chapter 22 — HEALTH-CARE DECISIONS
Section 21-2206 — Rights and duties of attorney in fact.

(a) Subject to any express limitations in the durable power of attorney for health care, an attorney in fact shall have all the rights, powers and authority related to health-care decisions that the principal would have under District and federal law. This authority shall include, at a minimum:
(1) The authority to grant, refuse or withdraw consent to the provision of any health-care service, treatment, or procedure;
(2) The right to review the health care records of the principal;
(3) The right to be provided with all information necessary to make informed health-care decisions;
(4) The authority to select and discharge health-care professionals; and
(5) The authority to make decisions regarding admission to or discharge from health-care facilities and to take any lawful actions that may be necessary to carry out these decisions.
(b) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection and unless a durable power of attorney for health care provides otherwise, the designated attorney in fact, if known to a health-care provider to be available and willing to make a particular health-care decision, shall have priority over any other person to act for the principal in all matters regarding health care.
(2) A designated attorney in fact shall not have the authority to make a particular health-care decision, if the principal is able to give or withhold informed consent with respect to that decision.
(c) In exercising authority under a durable power of attorney for health care, the attorney in fact shall have a duty to act in accordance with:
(1) The wishes of the principal as expressed in the durable power of attorney for health care; or
(2) The good faith belief of the attorney in fact as to the best interests of the principal, if the wishes of the principal are unknown and cannot be ascertained.
(d) Nothing in this chapter shall affect any right that an attorney in fact may have, independent of the designation in a durable power of attorney for health care, to make or otherwise participate in health-care decisions on behalf of the principal.

History
(Mar. 16, 1989, D.C. Law 7-189, § 7, 35 DCR 8653; Feb. 5, 1994, D.C. Law 10-68, § 23(g), 40 DCR 6311.)

Annotations
Cross References. Patient or client records, obtaining from health care providers, see § 3-1210.11.

Section References. This section is referenced in § 7-1231.06 and § 7-1231.07.

Prior Codifications. 1981 Ed., § 21-2206.

Legislative History of Law 7-189. For legislative history of D.C. Law 7-189, see Historical and Statutory Notes following § 21-2201.

Legislative History of Law 10-68. For legislative history of D.C. Law 10-68, see Historical and Statutory Notes following § 21-2201.