Who Decides When You Cannot

When a patient cannot consent, these people may consent to medical treatment, in this order, each only if no one in an earlier class is reasonably available, willing and competent:

• §La. R.S. 40:1159.4StatutePersons who may consent to surgical or medical treatmentOpens legis.la.gov ↗

• A court appointed tutor or curator.
• An agent under a mandate that specifically authorizes health care decisions.
• The spouse, if not judicially separated.
• An adult child, then a parent, then a sibling, then other ascendants or descendants.
• An adult friend familiar with the patient's views who signs the facility's acknowledgment form.

• §La. R.S. 40:1159.4StatutePersons who may consent to surgical or medical treatmentOpens legis.la.gov ↗

Where a class has more than one member, a majority of those available decides. For a patient with a terminal and irreversible condition who made no declaration, a similar order of relatives may make one for the patient, with two witnesses present.

• §La. R.S. 40:1159.4StatutePersons who may consent to surgical or medical treatmentOpens legis.la.gov ↗
• §La. R.S. 40:1151.4StatuteProcedure for making a declaration for a qualified patient who has not previously made a declarationOpens legis.la.gov ↗