H-1322              _______________________________________________

                                                    HOUSE BILL NO. 763

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1987 Regular Session

By Representative Niemi

Read first time 2/9/87 and referred to Committee on Health Care.

AN ACT Relating to consent for health care; and adding a new section to chapter 7.70 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 7.70 RCW to read as follows:

          (1) Informed consent for health care for a patient who is not competent to consent may be obtained from a person authorized to consent on behalf of such patient.  Persons authorized to provide informed consent to health care on behalf of a patient who is not competent to consent shall be a member of one of the following classes of persons in the following order of priority:

          (a) The appointed guardian of the patient, if any;

          (b) The individual, if any, to whom the patient has given a durable power of attorney that encompasses the authority to make health care decisions;

          (c) The patient's spouse;

          (d) Children of the patient who are at least eighteen years of age;

          (e) Parents of the patient; and

          (f) Adult brothers and sisters of the patient.

          (2) If the physician seeking informed consent for proposed health care of the patient who is not competent to consent makes reasonable efforts to locate and secure authorization from a competent person in the first or succeeding class and finds no such person available, authorization may be given by any person in the next class in the order of descending priority.  However, no person under this section may provide informed consent to health care:

          (a) If a person of higher priority under this section has refused to give such authorization; or

          (b) If there are two or more individuals in the same class and the decision is not unanimous among all available members of that class.

          (3) Before any person authorized to provide informed consent on behalf of a patient not competent to consent exercises that authority, the person must first determine in good faith that that patient, if competent, would consent to the proposed health care.  If such a determination cannot be made, the decision to consent to the proposed health care may be made only after determining that the proposed health care is in the patient's best interests.