§ 21-2212 — Effect of subchapter.

(a) Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to condone, authorize, or approve mercy-killing or to permit any affirmative or deliberate act to end a human life other than to permit the natural dying process.

(b) Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to conflict with or supersede, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, approved April 17, 1986 (100 Stat. 164; 42 U.S.C. § 1395dd).

(c) Emergency health care may be provided without consent to a patient who is certified incapacitated under § 21-2204 , if no authorized person is reasonably available or if, in the reasonable medical judgment of the attending physician, attempting to locate an authorized person would cause:

(1) A substantial risk of death;

(2) The health of the incapacitated individual to be placed in serious jeopardy;

(3) Serious impairment to the incapacitated individual’s bodily functions; or

(4) Serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part of the incapacitated individual.

Legislative History

Mar. 16, 1989, D.C. Law 7-189, § 13, 35 DCR 8653; Feb. 5, 1994, D.C. Law 10-68, § 23(m), 40 DCR 6311; Oct. 22, 2008, D.C. Law 17-249, § 3(d), 55 DCR 9206; Feb. 27, 2016, D.C. Law 21-72, § 2(c)(6), 63 DCR 208