N.Y. Public Health Law § 2982: Rights and duties of agent

§ 2982. Rights and duties of agent. 1. Scope of authority. Subject to

any express limitations in the health care proxy, an agent shall have

the authority to make any and all health care decisions on the

principal's behalf that the principal could make. Such authority shall

be subject to the provisions of section twenty-nine hundred eighty-nine

of this article.

2. Decision-making standard. After consultation with a licensed

physician, registered nurse, physician assistant, nurse practitioner,

licensed psychologist, licensed master social worker, or a licensed

clinical social worker, the agent shall make health care decisions: (a)

in accordance with the principal's wishes, including the principal's

religious and moral beliefs; or (b) if the principal's wishes are not

reasonably known and cannot with reasonable diligence be ascertained, in

accordance with the principal's best interests; provided, however, that

if the principal's wishes regarding the administration of artificial

nutrition and hydration are not reasonably known and cannot with

reasonable diligence be ascertained, the agent shall not have the

authority to make decisions regarding these measures.

3. Right to receive information. Notwithstanding any law to the

contrary, the agent shall have the right to receive medical information

and medical and clinical records necessary to make informed decisions

regarding the principal's health care.

4. Priority over other surrogates. Health care decisions by an agent

on a principal's behalf pursuant to this article shall have priority

over decisions by any other person, except as otherwise provided in the

health care proxy or in subdivision five of section two thousand nine

hundred eighty-three of this article.