West Virginia Code 16-30C-8 – Revocation of do not resuscitate order
(a) At any time a person in a health care facility may revoke his or her previous request for or consent to a do not resuscitate order by making either a written, oral or other act of communication to a physician or other professional staff of the health care facility.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 16-30C-8
- Attending physician: means the physician selected by or assigned to the person who has primary responsibility for treatment or care of the person and who is a licensed physician. See West Virginia Code 16-30C-3
- Health care facility: means a facility established to administer and provide health care services and which is commonly known by a wide variety of titles, including, but not limited to, hospitals, medical centers, ambulatory health care facilities, physicians'. See West Virginia Code 16-30C-3
- Home: means any place of residence other than a health care facility and includes residential board and care homes and personal care homes. See West Virginia Code 16-30C-3
- in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by printing, engraving, writing, or otherwise. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Representative: means a person designated by a principal to make health care decisions in accordance with article thirty-a of this chapter. See West Virginia Code 16-30C-3
- surrogate: means an individual eighteen years of age or older who is reasonably available, is willing to make health care decisions on behalf of an incapacitated person, possesses the capacity to make health care decisions and is identified or selected by the attending physician or advanced nurse practitioner in accordance with applicable provisions of article thirty of this chapter as the person or persons who is to make decisions pursuant to this article: Provided, That a representative named in the incapacitated person'. See West Virginia Code 16-30C-3
(b) At any time a person residing at home may revoke his/her do not resuscitate order by destroying such order and removing do not resuscitate identification on his or her person. The person is responsible for notifying his or her physician of the revocation.
(c) At any time a representative or surrogate decision-maker may revoke his or her consent to a do not resuscitate order for a person with incapacity in a health care facility by notifying a physician or other professional staff of the health care facility of the revocation of consent in writing, or by orally notifying the attending physician in the presence of a witness eighteen years of age or older.
(d) At any time a representative or surrogate decision-maker may revoke his or her consent for a person with incapacity residing at home by destroying such order and removing do not resuscitate identification from the person. The representative or surrogate decision-maker is responsible for notifying the person's physician of the revocation.
(e) The attending physician who is informed of or provided with a revocation of consent pursuant to this section shall immediately cancel the do not resuscitate order if the person is in a health care facility and notify the professional staff of the health care facility responsible for the person's care of the revocation and cancellation. Any professional staff of the health care facility who is informed of or provided with a revocation of consent pursuant to this section shall immediately notify the attending physician of such revocation.
(f) Only a licensed physician may cancel the issuance of a do not resuscitate order.