Duty of Medical Personnel to Honor Your Healthcare Directives

Know when healthcare providers must follow your instructions for medical care -- and when they may not.

After you've gone to the trouble of writing down your wishes for medical treatment in a healthcare directive, you may be concerned about what would happen if a doctor or hospital doesn't want to follow your instructions. To put your mind at ease, know that healthcare providers are generally required to comply with the wishes you set out in your healthcare documents -- and to honor your healthcare agent's authority as long as the agent's directions are a reasonable interpretation of your wishes. In some situations, however, a healthcare provider is permitted to reject a medical decision made by you or your agent. This may be true if:

  • the decision goes against the conscience of the individual healthcare provider
  • the decision goes against a policy of a healthcare institution that is based on reasons of conscience, or
  • the decision would lead to medically ineffective healthcare or healthcare that violates generally accepted healthcare standards applied by the healthcare provider or institution.

But this doesn't mean that your healthcare instructions can be ignored. A healthcare provider who refuses to comply with your wishes or the directions of your healthcare agent must promptly inform you or your agent. And if you or your agent wishes, the provider must immediately take steps to transfer you to another provider or institution that will honor your directive. In some states, a healthcare provider who intentionally violates these rules may be legally liable for damages.

How Pregnancy May Affect Your Healthcare Directives
There is one situation in which your specific healthcare directions might be challenged or ignored completely: when you are pregnant. If you may become pregnant, it's a good idea to explicitly state what you want if your healthcare documents go into effect while you are carrying a child. But whether or not doctors will honor your wishes depends on several factors, including how far along you are in your pregnancy, the risks to you and the unborn child, and the policies of individual doctors and healthcare facilities. If you are in your second or third trimester, doctors are likely to administer all medical care they deem necessary to keep you and the fetus alive.

Copyright 2004 Nolo

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