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NYS Medical Society urges New Yorkers To avoid the pain, grief, expense and national controversy of the Schiavo feeding-tube case, the Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY) urges all New Yorkers to make sure they have a Health Care Proxy and one that is up-to-date. With a Health Care Proxy, also known as a "health durable power of attorney," you can designate a person of your choice to make all or some of your healthcare treatment decisions if you become disabled and can’t make the decisions yourself. Health Care Proxies are free, easy, flexible and don’t require a lawyer or notary. Proxies are particularly important to have in New York State, which does not automatically extend that decision authority to a spouse, relative or close friend of incapacitated adult patients; in NYS Terri’s fate would be determined by the court and her doctor. Luckily, Health Care Proxies are especially easy to establish in New York. Forms are available online and from your physician, and have legal standing as soon as they are signed by you and your witnesses. Because Health Care Proxies are often confused with living wills, MSSNY wants New Yorkers to realize that a person can have both but that a Health Care Proxy, with or without a living will, is essential for making sure you receive the healthcare treatment that you would choose for yourself. Health Care Proxies are flexible; they can be changed at anytime, and the instructions on them can be as general or specific as you prefer. Just make sure you include instructions regarding nutrition and hydration. Because the person you appoint as proxy - not the document - has the authority, the proxy can make a decision based on circumstances that you may not have anticipated but, nevertheless, based on what the proxy believes would be your wish. A Health Care Proxy, therefore, enables you to have more control over your healthcare destiny and increases the likelihood that your wishes will be carried out. Although the authority of a proxy ends with your death, NYS’s proxy form also provides space for indicating organ donation preference. After signing your Health Care Proxy form in front of witnesses, be sure to give a copy to your proxy, your doctor and your lawyer, as well as to other people close to you and yourself. For more details and a Health Care Proxy form, go to the medical society’s website at www.mssny.org and click on "Who Has Your Proxy," or go to the NYS Department of Health’s proxy website section at http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/hospital/healthcareproxy/intro.htm.
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