Louisiana § RS 40:1155.2 - Definitions

§ RS 40:1155.2. Definitions

            As used in this Subpart, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed to them unless the context clearly states otherwise:

            (1) "Attending physician" means the physician who has primary responsibility for the treatment and care of the patient.

            (2) "Health care provider" means any home health agency, hospice, hospital, or nursing facility.

            (3) "LaPOST" means Louisiana Physician Order for Scope of Treatment as provided in R.S. 40:1155.2.1.

            (4) "Licensed emergency medical services practitioner" means a licensed emergency medical services practitioner as defined in R.S. 40:1131.

            (5) "Life-limiting and irreversible condition" means a continual profound comatose state with no reasonable chance of recovery or a condition caused by injury, disease, or illness which within reasonable medical judgment would usually produce death within six months, for which the application of life-sustaining procedures would serve only to postpone the moment of death and for which the life-sustaining procedures would be a burden and not a benefit to the qualified patient, except as provided in the definition of "life-sustaining procedure" herein.

            (6) "Life-sustaining procedure" means any medical procedure or intervention which, within reasonable medical judgment, would serve only to prolong the dying process of a qualified patient, including such procedures as the invasive administration of nutrition and hydration and the administration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation when the benefits of the procedure do not outweigh the burdens thereof. A "life-sustaining procedure" shall not include any measure deemed as comfort care. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Subpart, the administration of nutrition and hydration, whether orally or by invasive means, shall always occur except in the event another condition arises which is life-limiting and irreversible and in which nutrition and hydration by any means becomes a greater burden than benefit to the qualified patient.

            (7) "Personal health care representative" means a person who has authority in accordance with Louisiana law to act on behalf of an individual who is an adult or an emancipated minor in making decisions related to health care because of incapacity.

            (8) "Physician" means a physician or surgeon licensed by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners or by the official licensing authority of another state.

            (9) "Qualified patient" means a patient diagnosed and certified in writing as having a life-limiting and irreversible condition by the attending physician or personal physician of the patient.

            Acts 2010, No. 954, §1; Acts 2012, No. 789, §§2,3, eff. June 13, 2012; Redesignated from R.S. 40:1299.64.2 by HCR 84 of 2015 R.S.; Acts 2016, No. 486, §§1, 2, eff. June 13, 2016.