When the Secretary of the Department of Adult Correction finds as a fact that the injury to any prisoner was willfully and intentionally self-inflicted and that an operation or treatment is necessary for the preservation or restoration of the health of the prisoner and that the prisoner is competent to act for himself or herself; and that attempts have been made to obtain consent for the proposed operation or treatment but such consent was refused, and the findings have been reduced to writing and entered into the prisoner’s records as a permanent part thereof, then the chief medical officer of the prison hospital or prison institution shall be authorized to give or withhold, on behalf of the prisoner, consent to the operation or treatment.

In all cases coming under the provisions of this section, the medical staff of the hospital or institution shall keep a careful and complete medical record of the treatment and surgical procedures undertaken. The record shall be signed by the chief medical officer of the hospital or institution and the surgeon performing any surgery. Any treatment of self-inflicted injuries shall also be subject to the provisions of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-21.13 and G.S. 90-21.16. (1959, c. 1196; 1967, c. 996, s. 15; 1969, c. 982; 1973, c. 1262, s. 10; 1981, c. 307, ss. 4-7, 9; 2004-203, s. 53(b); 2011-145, s. 19.1(i); 2021-180, s. 19C.9(o).)