144B.9 - IMMUNITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.
144B.9 IMMUNITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.
1. A health care provider is not subject to criminal prosecution,
civil liability, or professional disciplinary action if the health
care provider relies on a health care decision and both of the
following requirements are satisfied:
a. The decision is made by an attorney in fact who the health
care provider believes in good faith is authorized to make the
decision.
b. The health care provider believes in good faith that the
decision is not inconsistent with the desires of the principal as
expressed in the durable power of attorney for health care or
otherwise made known to the health care provider, and, if the
decision is to withhold or withdraw health care necessary to keep the
principal alive, the health care provider has provided an opportunity
for the principal to object to the decision.
2. Notwithstanding a contrary health care decision of the
attorney in fact, the health care provider is not subject to criminal
prosecution, civil liability, or professional disciplinary action for
failing to withhold or withdraw health care necessary to keep the
principal alive. However, the attorney in fact may make provisions
to transfer the responsibility for the care of the principal to
another health care provider.
3. An attorney in fact is not subject to criminal prosecution or
civil liability for any health care decision made in good faith
pursuant to a durable power of attorney for health care.
4. It shall be presumed that an attorney in fact, and a health
care provider acting pursuant to the direction of an attorney in
fact, are acting in good faith and in the best interests of the
principal absent clear and convincing evidence to the contrary.
5. For purposes of this section, acting in "good faith" means
acting consistent with the desires of the principal as expressed in
the durable power of attorney for health care or otherwise made known
to the attorney in fact, or where those desires are unknown, acting
in the best interests of the principal, taking into account the
principal's overall medical condition and prognosis.
6. A health care provider or attorney in fact may presume that a
durable power of attorney for health care is valid absent actual
knowledge to the contrary. Section History: Recent Form
91 Acts, ch 140, §9