New York Adopts Broad Changes To Law on Treatment Decisions

On Feb. 24, 2010, the New York State Legislature enacted the Family Health Care Decisions Act (FHCDA).¹ First proposed by the New York State Task Force on Life and the Law in 1992 and introduced into the New York State Assembly in 1993, the act effects sweeping changes to New York State’s laws on treatment decisions for patients in hospitals and nursing homes who lack decision-making capacity.² Governor David A. Paterson signed the bill into law on March 16, 2010.

The FHCDA establishes a new Article 29-CC of the Public Health Law that covers treatment decisions, including decisions to forgo life-sustaining measures, for adults who lack the capacity to decide for themselves and have not signed an advance directive, and for children. For adults who lack decision-making capacity and have no one available to decide for them, the FHCDA authorizes physicians to approve medical treatment, creating a much-needed alternative to a court order or court-appointed guardian for decisions to provide treatment for this patient population.