NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4332
SPONSOR: Gunther TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to orders not to
resuscitate; and to repeal article 29-B of the public health law relat-
ing to orders not to resuscitate for residents of mental hygiene facili-
ties
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This is one of a series of seven bills, informally referred to as the
"Surrogate Decision-Making Improvement Acts." The bills make
technical/minor, clarifying and coordinating amendments and other
improvements to the Family Health Care Decisions Act (FHCDA) (Ch. 8,
Laws of 2010) and other laws that govern health care decisions, includ-
ing life-sustaining treatment decisions, for patients who lack deci-
sion-making capacity. This bill repeals PHL Art. 29-B, Orders Not to
Resuscitate for Patients in Mental Hygiene Facilities, which is now
covered by other provisions of the Public Health Law.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Amends various section of the public health law
JUSTIFICATION:
This bill repeals PHL Art 29-B Orders Not To Resuscitate For Residents
Of Mental Hygiene Facilities.
Prior to 2010, PHL Art. 29-B governed DNR orders in hospitals, nursing
homes, mental hygiene facilities and elsewhere. Ch. 8, L. 2010 (i)
replaced the DNR Law with the FHCDA in hospitals and nursing homes, (ii)
amended PHL Art. 29-B to make it applicable only to residents of mental
hygiene facilities, i.e., psychiatric hospitals, psychiatric units of
general hospitals, and OPWDD-operated developmental centers, and (iii)
created PHL Art. 29-CCC Nonhospital Orders Not To Resuscitate, to cover
all other settings.
It soon became clear that there is no need for a separate DNR law for
residents of mental hygiend facilities. First, DNR orders for residents
of OPWDD-operated developmental centers were already governed by SCPA §
1750-b, making PHL Art. 29-B redundant. Second, DNR orders in psychiat-
ric hospitals and general hospital mental health units were more appro-
priately governed by the provisions in the FHCDA. Moreover variations in
DNR procedures and standards - especially between the procedures and
standards in hospital medical units and hospital mental health units
have become a source of confusion and complexity. Accordingly section 1
of this bill repeals PHL Art. 29-B. Related amendments in this bill
provide that DNR decisions for patients in psychiatric hospitals and
units are governed by the FHCDA and confirm that DNR decisions for all
persons with developmental disabilities are governed by SCPA 1.750-b (§§
2 - 4).
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-22: A5508 referred to Codes/S4684 referred to Health
2019-20: A7172A Passed Assembly/S5762A referred to Rules
2017-18: A853 Reported to Codes
2015-16: A1023 Reported to Codes
2014: A9548 Reported to Rules/57152 Referred to Health
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4332
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 14, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GUNTHER, BRONSON -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to orders not to
resuscitate; and to repeal article 29-B of the public health law
relating to orders not to resuscitate for residents of mental hygiene
facilities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Article 29-B of the public health law is REPEALED.
2 § 2. Section 2994-b of the public health law is amended by adding a
3 new subdivision 1-a to read as follows:
4 1-a. This article shall also apply to decisions regarding orders not
5 to resuscitate for a patient who lacks decision-making capacity in a
6 hospital as defined by section 1.03 of the mental hygiene law.
7 § 3. Subdivision 5 of section 2994-cc of the public health law, as
8 amended by chapter 708 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as
9 follows:
10 5. Consent by a patient or a surrogate for a patient [in a mental
11 hygiene facility shall be governed by article twenty-nine-B of this
12 chapter] in a facility operated or licensed by the office of mental
13 health shall be governed by this article. Consent by a patient who is
14 intellectually or otherwise developmentally disabled and is eligible for
15 life-sustaining treatment decision pursuant to section seventeen hundred
16 fifty-b of the surrogate's court procedure act shall be governed by that
17 section.
18 § 4. Section 2994-ff of the public health law, as added by chapter 8
19 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
20 § 2994-ff. Interinstitutional transfer. If a patient with a nonhospi-
21 tal order not to resuscitate is admitted to a hospital, or if a hospital
22 patient with an order not to resuscitate is transferred from a hospital
23 to a different hospital, the order shall be treated as an order not to
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05243-01-3
A. 4332 2
1 resuscitate for a patient transferred from another hospital, and shall
2 be governed by [article twenty-nine-CC of this chapter, except that any
3 such order for a patient admitted to a mental hygiene facility shall be
4 governed by article twenty-nine-B] section twenty-nine hundred ninety-
5 four-l of this chapter.
6 § 5. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
7 have become a law.
