Louisiana Children’s Code 1554 – Deprivation of medical or surgical care prohibited; exceptions
Terms Used In Louisiana Children's Code 1554
- Child: means a person under eighteen years of age who has not been judicially emancipated under Civil Code Article 385 or emancipated by marriage under Civil Code Articles 379 through 384. See Louisiana Children's Code 1552
- Continual profound comatose state: means that there is no reasonable medical possibility of ever achieving a cognitive state of conscious perception. See Louisiana Children's Code 1552
- Terminal and irreversible condition: means a condition, injury, disease, or illness which, within reasonable medical judgment, would produce death and for which the application of a life-support system would serve only to postpone the moment of death. See Louisiana Children's Code 1552
No child, including any infant born alive, shall be intentionally denied or deprived of any medical or surgical care by his parent, physician, or any other person when such medical or surgical care is necessary to attempt to save the life of the child in the opinion of a physician exercising competent medical judgment, except:
(1) When a child is in a continual profound comatose state and in the opinion of the child’s physician, exercising competent medical judgment, he has no reasonable chance of recovery from that state despite every appropriate medical treatment to correct such condition, the child’s parents and physician may discontinue the use of life-support systems or other medical treatment.
(2) When a child suffers from a terminal and irreversible condition despite every appropriate medical treatment to correct such condition, the child’s parents and physician may discontinue the use of life-sustaining procedures or other medical treatment.
(3) When the potential risks to the child’s life or health inherent in any treatment or surgery outweigh the potential benefits for survival from the treatment or surgery, a child’s parents and physician may decline to provide potentially lifesaving medical or surgical care for the child.
Acts 1991, No. 235, §15, eff. Jan. 1, 1992.