From the Muncie Star Press:
State Sen. Sue Errington, D-Muncie, wants to make state law clear on who is responsible for making health care decisions for the incapacitated.
“The best option is to put your health-care choices in writing,” said Errington. “In cases where advanced directives have not been established, this measure will provide guidance and avoid confusion for doctors and family members.”
Senate Bill 181, which will be assigned to a Senate committee next week, was modeled after a South Carolina law that provides priority and exceptions for people who make health-care decisions for a patient who is unable to consent.
Indiana law allows a court to appoint a representative or decisions made by a
spouse, parent, adult child or sibling with no particular prioritization.
Jon Hendrix, a retired Ball State University biology professor, helped Errington draft the legislation. He is a bioethicist and an authority on ethics in human genetics.
Hendrix said he believed the legislation would prevent cases like the Terri Schiavo case where the parents and spouse disagreed on continuing life support that resulted in intervention by the state of Florida and the U.S. Congress.
About 80 percent of adults in the country do not have an advanced directive for health-care decisions, Hendrix said.
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