§ 2504. Enabling certain persons to consent for certain medical, dental, health and hospital services. 1. Any person who is eighteen years of age or older, or is the parent of a child or has married, or is a homeless youth as defined in § 532-a of the executive law, or receives services at an approved runaway and homeless youth crisis services program or a transitional independent living support program as defined in § 532-a of the executive law, may give effective consent for medical, dental, health and hospital services for themself, and the consent of no other person shall be necessary.

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

2. Any person who has been married or who has borne a child may give effective consent for medical, dental, health and hospital services for his or her child. Any person who has been designated pursuant to title fifteen-A of Article 5 of the general obligations law as a person in parental relation to a child may consent to any medical, dental, health and hospital services for such child for which consent is otherwise required which are not: (a) major medical treatment as defined in subdivision (a) of § 80.03 of the mental hygiene law; (b) electroconvulsive therapy; or (c) the withdrawal or discontinuance of medical treatment which is sustaining life functions.

3. Any person who is pregnant may give effective consent for medical, dental, health and hospital services relating to prenatal care.

4. Medical, dental, health and hospital services may be rendered to persons of any age without the consent of a parent, legal guardian or person possessing a lawful order of custody when, in the physician's judgment an emergency exists and the person is in immediate need of medical attention and an attempt to secure consent would result in delay of treatment which would increase the risk to the person's life or health.

5. Where not otherwise already authorized by law to do so, any person in a parental relation to a child as defined in section twenty-one hundred sixty-four of this chapter and, (i) a grandparent, an adult brother or sister, an adult aunt or uncle, any of whom has assumed care of the child and, (ii) an adult who has care of the child and has written authorization to consent from a person in a parental relation to a child as defined in section twenty-one hundred sixty-four of this chapter, may give effective consent for the immunization of a child. However, a person other than one in a parental relation to the child shall not give consent under this subdivision if he or she has reason to believe that a person in parental relation to the child as defined in section twenty-one hundred sixty-four of this chapter objects to the immunization.

6. Anyone who acts in good faith based on the representation by a person that he is eligible to consent pursuant to the terms of this section shall be deemed to have received effective consent.

7. No person shall perform a pelvic examination or supervise the performance of a pelvic examination on an anesthetized or unconscious patient unless the person performing the pelvic examination is legally authorized to do so and the person supervising the performance of the pelvic examination is legally authorized to do so and:

(a) the patient or the patient's authorized representative gives prior oral or written informed consent specific to the pelvic examination;

(b) the performance of a pelvic examination is within the scope of care for the surgical procedure or diagnostic examination scheduled to be performed on the patient and to which the patient has already given oral or written consent; or

(c) the patient is unconscious and the pelvic examination is medically necessary for diagnostic or treatment purposes, and the patient is in immediate need of medical attention and an attempt to secure consent would result in a delay of treatment which would increase the risk to the patient's life or health.

Nothing in this subdivision diminishes any other requirement to obtain informed consent for a pelvic examination or any other procedure.