2022 New York Laws
PBH - Public Health
Article 29-CC - Family Health Care Decisions Act
2994-E - Decisions About Life-Sustaining Treatment for Minor Patients.

§   2994-e.   Decisions  about  life-sustaining  treatment  for  minor
patients. 1. Authority of parent or guardian. The parent or guardian  of
a  minor  patient  shall  have  the  authority  to  make decisions about
life-sustaining treatment, including decisions to withhold  or  withdraw
such   treatment,   subject  to  the  provisions  of  this  section  and
subdivision five of section twenty-nine hundred  ninety-four-d  of  this
article.
  2. Decision-making standards and procedures for minor patient. (a) The
parent or guardian of a minor patient shall make decisions in accordance
with the minor's best interests, consistent with the standards set forth
in subdivision four of section twenty-nine hundred ninety-four-d of this
article, taking into account the minor's wishes as appropriate under the
circumstances.
  (b)  An  attending practitioner, in consultation with a minor's parent
or guardian, shall determine whether a minor patient has decision-making
capacity  for  a  decision  to  withhold  or  withdraw   life-sustaining
treatment.  If  the  minor  has  such capacity, a parent's or guardian's
decision to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment for the minor
may not be implemented without the minor's consent.
  (c) Where a parent or guardian of a minor patient has made a  decision
to  withhold  or  withdraw  life-sustaining  treatment  and an attending
practitioner has reason to believe that the minor patient has  a  parent
or  guardian  who  has  not  been  informed of the decision, including a
non-custodial parent or guardian, an attending practitioner  or  someone
acting  on his or her behalf, shall make reasonable efforts to determine
if the uninformed parent or  guardian  has  maintained  substantial  and
continuous  contact  with  the  minor  and,  if  so, shall make diligent
efforts to notify that parent or  guardian  prior  to  implementing  the
decision.
  3.  Decision-making  standards  and  procedures  for emancipated minor
patient. (a) If an attending practitioner determines that a  patient  is
an  emancipated minor patient with decision-making capacity, the patient
shall have the authority to decide about life-sustaining treatment. Such
authority  shall  include   a   decision   to   withhold   or   withdraw
life-sustaining  treatment  if  an attending practitioner and the ethics
review committee determine that the decision accords with the  standards
for  surrogate  decisions  for  adults,  and the ethics review committee
approves the decision.
  (b) If the hospital can with reasonable efforts ascertain the identity
of the parents or guardian of an emancipated minor patient, the hospital
shall  notify  such  persons  prior  to   withholding   or   withdrawing
life-sustaining treatment pursuant to this subdivision.