30-610. Surrogate; duties.

(1) In exercising authority under the Health Care Surrogacy Act, a surrogate shall have a duty to consult with medical personnel, including the primary health care provider, and thereupon to make health care decisions (a) in accordance with the individual instructions or the individual’s wishes as otherwise made known to the surrogate or (b) if the individual's wishes are not reasonably known and cannot with reasonable diligence be ascertained, in accordance with the individual’s best interests, with due regard for the individual's religious and moral beliefs if known.

(2) Notwithstanding subdivision (1)(b) of this section, the surrogate shall not have the authority to consent to the withholding or withdrawing of a life-sustaining procedure or artificially administered nutrition or hydration unless (a) the individual is suffering from a terminal condition or is in a persistent vegetative state and such procedure or care would be an extraordinary or disproportionate means of medical treatment to the individual and (b) the individual explicitly grants such authority to the surrogate and the intent of the individual to have life-sustaining procedures or artificially administered nutrition or hydration withheld or withdrawn under such circumstances is established by clear and convincing evidence.

(3) In exercising any decision, the surrogate shall have no authority to withhold or withdraw consent to routine care necessary to maintain patient comfort or the usual and typical provision of nutrition and hydration.

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