Do Not Resuscitate Act

A do-not-resuscitate act governs when cardiopulmonary resuscitation may be withheld from a person whose heart or breathing has stopped, starting from a presumption that consent to resuscitation exists unless a valid order says otherwise. It authorizes a physician — and, in some enactments, a physician's assistant or advanced practice registered nurse — to write such an order, provides for a standardized order form and wearable or portable identification so the order is recognized outside a hospital, and sets out how the order is honored, how it travels with a patient between facilities, and how it may be revoked. The act also shields health care providers and others who act in good faith under an order from civil, criminal, and professional liability, requires a physician unwilling to comply to notify the patient's representative or surrogate decision-maker, bars the order from affecting insurance, provides that acting on it is neither suicide nor murder, and directs that orders issued elsewhere be given effect.

Editorial summary generated from the text of this act. It is not part of the statute — read the sections below for the operative language.