59-7-2.7.   Comfort care required--Conditions for withdrawal of artificial nutrition or hydration. The attorney-in-fact or agent may not authorize the withholding or withdrawal of comfort care from the principal. The attorney-in-fact or agent may authorize that artificial nutrition or hydration be withheld or withdrawn if one or more of the following exist:

             (1)      Artificial nutrition or hydration is not needed for comfort care or the relief of pain and the attending physician reasonably believes that the principal's death is imminent; or

             (2)      Artificial nutrition or hydration cannot be physically assimilated by the principal; or

             (3)      The burden of providing artificial nutrition or hydration outweighs its benefit, provided that the determination of burden refers to the provision of artificial nutrition or hydration itself and not to the quality of the continued life of the principal; or

             (4)      There is clear and convincing evidence that the principal expressed the desire that artificial nutrition or hydration be withheld, or refused artificial nutrition or hydration prior to the loss of decisional capacity; or

             (5)      The principal expressed in the document creating the power of attorney that artificial nutrition or hydration be withheld; or

             (6)      The principal expressly authorized, in the writing creating the power of attorney, the attorney-in-fact or agent to direct the withholding of artificial nutrition or hydration.

Source: SL 1990, ch 412, § 4; SL 2007, ch 296, § 2.

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