Bill Text: IL HB4635 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Amends the Health Care Surrogate Act. Removes the requirement that an attending physician or qualified physician be licensed in Illinois. Effective immediately.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-06-23 - Rule 19(b) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB4635 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2019-HB4635-Introduced.html
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1 | AN ACT concerning civil law.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Health Care Surrogate Act is amended by | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | changing Section 10 as follows:
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6 | (755 ILCS 40/10) (from Ch. 110 1/2, par. 851-10)
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7 | Sec. 10. Definitions.
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8 | "Adult" means a person who is (i) 18 years of age or older | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | or (ii) an
emancipated minor under the Emancipation of
Minors | |||||||||||||||||||
10 | Act.
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11 | "Artificial nutrition and hydration" means supplying food | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | and water through a
conduit, such as a tube or intravenous | |||||||||||||||||||
13 | line, where the recipient is not
required to chew or swallow | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | voluntarily, including, but not limited to,
nasogastric tubes, | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | gastrostomies, jejunostomies, and
intravenous infusions. | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | Artificial nutrition and hydration does not include
assisted | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | feeding, such as spoon or bottle feeding.
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18 | "Available" means that a person is not "unavailable". A | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | person is
unavailable if (i) the person's existence is not | |||||||||||||||||||
20 | known, (ii) the person has
not been able to be contacted by | |||||||||||||||||||
21 | telephone or mail, or (iii) the person
lacks decisional | |||||||||||||||||||
22 | capacity, refuses to accept the office of surrogate, or is
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23 | unwilling to respond in a manner that indicates a choice among |
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1 | the
treatment matters at issue.
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2 | "Attending physician" means the physician selected by or
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3 | assigned to the patient who has primary responsibility for
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4 | treatment and care of the patient and who is a licensed | ||||||
5 | physician
in Illinois . If more than one physician shares that
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6 | responsibility, any of those physicians may act as the | ||||||
7 | attending
physician under this Act.
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8 | "Close friend" means any person 18 years of age or older | ||||||
9 | who
has exhibited special care and concern for the patient and | ||||||
10 | who
presents an affidavit to the attending physician stating | ||||||
11 | that he or
she (i) is a close friend of the patient, (ii) is | ||||||
12 | willing and able to become
involved in the patient's health | ||||||
13 | care, and (iii) has maintained such
regular contact with the | ||||||
14 | patient as to be familiar with the
patient's activities, | ||||||
15 | health, and religious and moral beliefs. The
affidavit must | ||||||
16 | also state facts and circumstances that demonstrate that
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17 | familiarity.
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18 | "Death" means when, according to accepted medical | ||||||
19 | standards,
there is (i) an irreversible cessation of | ||||||
20 | circulatory and
respiratory functions or (ii) an irreversible | ||||||
21 | cessation of all
functions of the entire brain, including the | ||||||
22 | brain stem.
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23 | "Decisional capacity" means the ability to understand and
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24 | appreciate the nature and consequences of a decision regarding
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25 | medical treatment or
forgoing life-sustaining treatment and | ||||||
26 | the ability to reach and
communicate an informed decision in |
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1 | the matter as determined by the
attending physician.
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2 | "Forgo life-sustaining treatment" means to withhold,
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3 | withdraw, or terminate all or any portion of life-sustaining
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4 | treatment with knowledge that the patient's death is likely to
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5 | result.
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6 | "Guardian" means a court appointed guardian of the person | ||||||
7 | who
serves as a representative of a minor or as a | ||||||
8 | representative of a
person under legal disability.
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9 | "Health care facility" means a type of health care provider
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10 | commonly known by a wide variety of titles, including but not
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11 | limited to, hospitals, medical centers, nursing homes,
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12 | rehabilitation centers, long term or tertiary care facilities, | ||||||
13 | and
other facilities established to administer health care and | ||||||
14 | provide
overnight stays in their ordinary course of business or | ||||||
15 | practice.
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16 | "Health care provider" means a person that is licensed,
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17 | certified, or otherwise authorized or permitted by the law of | ||||||
18 | this
State to administer health care in the ordinary course of | ||||||
19 | business
or practice of a profession, including, but not | ||||||
20 | limited to,
physicians, nurses, health care facilities, and any | ||||||
21 | employee,
officer, director, agent, or person under contract | ||||||
22 | with such a
person.
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23 | "Imminent" (as in "death is imminent") means a | ||||||
24 | determination
made by the attending physician according to | ||||||
25 | accepted medical
standards that death will occur in a | ||||||
26 | relatively short period of
time, even if life-sustaining |
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1 | treatment is initiated or continued.
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2 | "Life-sustaining treatment" means any medical treatment,
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3 | procedure, or intervention that, in the judgment of the | ||||||
4 | attending
physician, when applied to a patient with a | ||||||
5 | qualifying condition,
would not be effective to remove the | ||||||
6 | qualifying condition
or would serve only to prolong the dying | ||||||
7 | process. Those
procedures can include, but are not limited to, | ||||||
8 | assisted
ventilation, renal dialysis, surgical procedures, | ||||||
9 | blood
transfusions, and the administration of drugs, | ||||||
10 | antibiotics, and
artificial nutrition and hydration.
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11 | "Minor" means an individual who is not an adult as defined | ||||||
12 | in
this Act.
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13 | "Parent" means a person who is the natural or adoptive | ||||||
14 | mother
or father of the child and whose parental rights have | ||||||
15 | not been
terminated by a court of law.
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16 | "Patient" means an adult or minor individual, unless | ||||||
17 | otherwise
specified, under the care or treatment of a licensed | ||||||
18 | physician or
other health care provider.
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19 | "Person" means an individual, a corporation, a business | ||||||
20 | trust,
a trust, a partnership, an association, a government, a
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21 | governmental subdivision or agency, or any other legal entity.
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22 | "Qualifying condition" means the existence of one or more | ||||||
23 | of
the following conditions in a patient certified in writing | ||||||
24 | in the
patient's medical record by the attending physician and | ||||||
25 | by at least
one other qualified physician:
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26 | (1) "Terminal condition" means an illness or injury for
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1 | which there is no reasonable prospect of cure or recovery,
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2 | death is imminent, and the application of life-sustaining
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3 | treatment would only prolong the dying process.
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4 | (2) "Permanent unconsciousness" means a condition | ||||||
5 | that,
to a high degree of medical certainty, (i) will last
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6 | permanently, without improvement, (ii) in which
thought, | ||||||
7 | sensation, purposeful action, social interaction, and
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8 | awareness of self and environment are absent, and (iii) for
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9 | which initiating or continuing life-sustaining treatment, | ||||||
10 | in
light of the patient's medical condition, provides only
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11 | minimal medical benefit.
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12 | (3) "Incurable or irreversible condition" means an
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13 | illness or injury (i) for which there is no reasonable
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14 | prospect of cure or recovery, (ii) that ultimately will | ||||||
15 | cause
the patient's death even if life-sustaining | ||||||
16 | treatment is
initiated or continued, (iii) that imposes | ||||||
17 | severe pain or
otherwise imposes an inhumane burden on the | ||||||
18 | patient, and (iv)
for which initiating or continuing | ||||||
19 | life-sustaining treatment,
in light of the patient's | ||||||
20 | medical condition, provides only
minimal medical benefit.
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21 | The determination that a patient has a qualifying condition | ||||||
22 | creates
no presumption regarding the application or | ||||||
23 | non-application of life-sustaining
treatment. It is only after | ||||||
24 | a determination by the attending
physician that the patient has | ||||||
25 | a qualifying condition that the
surrogate decision maker may | ||||||
26 | consider whether or not to forgo
life-sustaining treatment. In |
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1 | making this decision, the surrogate
shall weigh the burdens on | ||||||
2 | the patient of initiating or continuing
life-sustaining | ||||||
3 | treatment against the benefits of that treatment.
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4 | "Qualified physician" means a physician licensed to | ||||||
5 | practice
medicine in all of its branches in Illinois who has | ||||||
6 | personally
examined the patient.
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7 | "Surrogate decision maker" means an adult individual or
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8 | individuals who (i) have decisional capacity, (ii) are | ||||||
9 | available
upon reasonable inquiry, (iii) are willing to make | ||||||
10 | medical treatment
decisions on behalf of
a patient who lacks | ||||||
11 | decisional capacity, and (iv) are identified by
the attending | ||||||
12 | physician in accordance with the provisions of this
Act as the | ||||||
13 | person or persons who are to make those decisions in
accordance | ||||||
14 | with the provisions of this Act.
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15 | (Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07.)
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16 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
17 | becoming law.
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