Oklahoma Health Care Directive means a document voluntarily executed by declarant in accordance with the requirements of the 'Rights of the Terminally Ill or Persistently Unconscious Act'
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Oklahoma Advance Directive for Health Care Act allows any adult may execute a document, revocable living will and health care power of attorney, directing that life-sustaining procedures be withheld or withdrawn |
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Oklahoma State Legislature adopted the "Oklahoma Rights of the Terminally Ill or Persistently Unconscious Act" that essentially regulates the issuance of advance health care directives in the State of Oklahoma. (Section 3101.4 - Advance Directive Form and Procedures) In Oklahoma, an individual of sound mind and eighteen (18) years of age or older may execute an advance directive governing the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment. The advance directive shall be signed by the declarant and witnessed by two individuals who are eighteen (18) years of age or older who are not your heirs at law. We provide you with the complete Oklahoma Health Care Directive form that consists of two parts: Part one is a "Living Will"; Part two is a "Health Care Power of attorney (appointment of health care proxy)" that allows you to appoint an attorney in fact to make health related decisions instead of you if you are not capable of making such decisions; Part 3 is an "Organ Donation" provision. You are free to complete either part of this document. In the first part of your Advance Health Care Directive - "Living Will" - you set the circumstances when your life must not be prolonged. In the second part of your Health Care Directive - "Appointment of Health Care Proxy" - you essentially state who you want to decide whether the life support devises shall be withdrawn if you should have an incurable or irreversible condition that, without the administration of life-sustaining treatment, will, in the opinion of your attending physician or attending advanced practice registered nurse, cause your death within a relatively short time and you are unable to make decisions regarding your medical treatment. You may also appoint an alternate agent in case your primary agent (attorney in fact) is unable or unwilling to perform. The third part of the OK Health Care Directive called "Anatomical Gifts" allows you to donate any of your organs to different institutions, or express no desire to donate at all. Before you start working on your Advance Health Care Directive you need to know the following important definitions: "Advance directive for health care" means any writing executed in accordance with the requirements of Section 4 of this act and may include a living will, the appointment of a health care proxy, or both such living will and appointment of a proxy. Artificially Administered Hydration and Nutrition: Feeding through intravenous solutions, nasal or surgically inserted feeding tubes. Health Care Proxy: A person you appoint to make health care decisions for you when you cannot make them for yourself. "Life-sustaining treatment" means any medical procedure or intervention, including but not limited to the artificial administration of nutrition and hydration if the declarant has specifically authorized the withholding and withdrawal of artificially administered nutrition and hydration, that, when administered to a qualified patient, will serve only to prolong the process of dying or to maintain the patient in a condition of persistent unconsciousness. The term "life-sustaining treatment" shall not include the administration of medication or the performance of any medical treatment deemed necessary to alleviate pain nor the normal consumption of food and water; Organ Donation: a donation at the time of death of the entire body or designated body organs or body parts in accordance with the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act. Persistently Unconscious: An irreversible condition, diagnosed by an attending physician and another physician, in which thought and awareness of self and environment are absent. Qualified Patient: Anyone 18 years of and older who has completed an Advance Directive and has been diagnosed to be in a terminal condition or persistently unconscious by the attending physician and another physician. Terminal Condition: An incurable and irreversible condition that even with the administration of life-saving treatment such as ventilators, breathing machines, pacemakers, heart beat stimulators, and drugs to stimulate heart and lungs, will, in the opinion of the attending physician and another physician, result in death within the next six months. Death resulting from the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment in accordance with the Oklahoma Rights of the Terminally Ill or Persistently Unconscious Act shall not constitute, for any purpose, a suicide or homicide. The Oklahoma Rights of the Terminally Ill or Persistently Unconscious Act shall not be construed to condone, authorize, or approve mercy killing, assisted suicide, or euthanasia. If there is anything about this Oklahoma Advance Health Care Directive that you do not understand, you should ask a lawyer to explain it to you. You should talk with your family, your health-care professional, and any agent or attorney-in-fact that you appoint about your health care decision to make one or more advance directives. If they know what health care you want, they will find it easier to follow your wishes. If you cancel or change the Oklahoma Advance Health Care Directive in the future, remember to tell these same people about the change or cancellation. |
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