The Florida Senate

765.305  Procedure in absence of a living will.--

(1)  In the absence of a living will, the decision to withhold or withdraw life-prolonging procedures from a patient may be made by a health care surrogate designated by the patient pursuant to part II unless the designation limits the surrogate's authority to consent to the withholding or withdrawal of life-prolonging procedures.

(2)  Before exercising the incompetent patient's right to forego treatment, the surrogate must be satisfied that:

(a)  The patient does not have a reasonable medical probability of recovering capacity so that the right could be exercised by the patient.

(b)  The patient is both mentally and physically incapacitated with no reasonable medical probability of recovery, the patient has an end-stage condition, the patient is in a persistent vegetative state, or the patient's physical condition is terminal.

History.--s. 4, ch. 92-199; s. 28, ch. 99-331.