A Health Care Proxy is not a power of attorney. It is an instrument (or document sometimes called an advance directive) that allows you to appoint an agent to make health care decisions in the event that the primary individual is incapable of executing such decisions. Once the document is drafted, the primary individual continues to be allowed to make health care decisions as long as he or she is still competent to do so. Health care proxies are by no means mandatory; rather they allow the patient's wishes to be followed even when he/she is incapable of communicating them.
Anyone above 18 can be the primary individual's agent. The agent must be of sound mind and judgment. It is recommended that the agent be someone close to and trusted by the primary individual.
The agent is empowered when a qualified physician determines that the primary individual is unable to make decisions regarding health care. The health care proxy can authorize the agent to make end of life decisions, provided, the physician has determined that the individual has an incurable or irreversible condition from there is no reasonable expectation of recovery. If so authorized, the agent has the power to remove or sustain feeding tubes from the primary individual if these tubes are the only things that are keeping the primary individual alive. The agent's decision stems from knowledge of the patient's desire in this matter. If the primary individual made his or her wishes clear on the proxy form, then they must be followed despite any possible objections from the agent. Beyond this matter, if there are no limitations on the health care proxy form, the agent can make most other decisions in accordance with what the primary individual would have wanted. An agent will not be legally or financially liable for decisions made on behalf of the primary individual as long as the agent takes into account the primary individual's wishes and beliefs.
Our health care proxy document also allows the principal to empower the agent to donate the individual's organs if that is consistent with the principal's religious and philosophical beliefs.
Health care proxies have become increasingly important today due to conflicts among relatives of the primary individual. The Terri Schiavo case is a famous modern-day example. Doctors tried to treat Schiavo for more than ten years and concluded that she was in a persistent vegetative state. Her husband maintained that she did not want to remain in that condition. Terri's parents objected and argued that her husband stood to benefit financially from not divorcing Schiavo, that he wanted to re-marry, and was motivated by those goals to remove her feeding tube. This resulted in a lengthy court battle that raised many political, moral, and medical issues. The whole controversy might have been avoided if Schiavo had assigned either her parents or her husband as her health care proxy.
Living Wills
In New York State there is no statutory authority for designating an Agent to make health care decisions in a Living Will. There is also no penalty for Health Care Providers who do not follow an individual's wishes as expressed in a Living Will.
The Living Wills' purpose is a statement of a person's wishes in the event of terminal illness. It tends to be a person's wishes regarding specific treatment options that are to be administered or withheld.