Section 137-J:28 Protection of Persons Carrying Out in Good Faith a Do Not Resuscitate Order; Notification of Agent by Attending Physician or APRN Refusing to Comply With Do Not Resuscitate Order.
I. No health care provider or residential care provider, or any other person acting for the provider or under the provider's control, shall be subjected to criminal or civil liability, or be deemed to have engaged in unprofessional conduct, for carrying out in good faith a do not resuscitate order authorized by this chapter on behalf of a person as instructed by the person, or the person's agent, or for those actions taken in compliance with the standards and procedures set forth in this chapter.
II. No health care provider or residential care provider, or any other person acting for the provider or under the provider's control, or other individual who witnesses a cardiac or respiratory arrest shall be subjected to criminal or civil liability for providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation to a person for whom a do not resuscitate order has been issued; provided, that such provider or individual:
(a) Reasonably and in good faith is unaware of the issuance of a do not resuscitate order; or
(b) Reasonably and in good faith believed that consent to the do not resuscitate order has been revoked or canceled.
III. (a) Any attending physician or APRN who, because of personal beliefs or conscience, refuses to issue a do not resuscitate order at a person's request or to comply with a do not resuscitate order issued pursuant to this chapter shall take reasonable steps to advise promptly the person or agent of the person that such attending physician or APRN is unwilling to effectuate the order. The attending physician or APRN shall thereafter at the election of the person or agent permit the person or agent to obtain another attending physician or APRN.
(b) If a physician or APRN, because of his or her personal beliefs or conscience, is unable to comply with the terms of a do not resuscitate order, he or she shall immediately inform the person, the person's agent, or the person's family. The person, the person's agent, or the person's family may then request that the case be referred to another physician or APRN, as set forth in RSA 137-J:7, II and III.
Source. 2006, 302:2, eff. Jan. 1, 2007. 2009, 54:4, eff. July 21, 2009.