90-321. Right to a natural death.

(a) The following definitions apply in this Article:

(1) Declarant. - A person who has signed a declaration in accordance with subsection (c) of this section.

(1a) Declaration. - Any signed, witnessed, dated, and proved document meeting the requirements of subsection (c) of this section.

(2) Repealed by Session Laws 2007-502, s. 11(a), effective October 1, 2007.

(2a) Life-prolonging measures. - As defined in G.S. 32A-16(4).

(3) Physician. - Any person licensed to practice medicine under Article 1 of Chapter 90 of the laws of the State of North Carolina.

(4) Repealed by Session Laws 2007-502, s. 11(a), effective October 1, 2007.

(b) If a person has expressed through a declaration, in accordance with subsection (c) of this section, a desire that the person's life not be prolonged by life-prolonging measures, and the declaration has not been revoked in accordance with subsection (e) of this section; and

(1) It is determined by the attending physician that the declarant's present condition is a condition described in subsection (c) of this section and specified in the declaration for applying the declarant's directives, and

(2) There is confirmation of the declarant's present condition as set out in subdivision (b)(1) of this section by a physician other than the attending physician;

(c) The attending physician shall follow, subject to subsections (b), (e), and (k) of this section, a declaration:

(1) That expresses a desire of the declarant that life-prolonging measures not be used to prolong the declarant's life if, as specified in the declaration as to any or all of the following:

a. The declarant has an incurable or irreversible condition that will result in the declarant's death within a relatively short period of time; or

b. The declarant becomes unconscious and, to a high degree of medical certainty, will never regain consciousness; or

c. The declarant suffers from advanced dementia or any other condition resulting in the substantial loss of cognitive ability and that loss, to a high degree of medical certainty, is not reversible.

(2) That states that the declarant is aware that the declaration authorizes a physician to withhold or discontinue the life-prolonging measures; and

(3) That has been signed by the declarant in the presence of two witnesses who believe the declarant to be of sound mind and who state that they (i) are not related within the third degree to the declarant or to the declarant's spouse, (ii) do not know or have a reasonable expectation that they would be entitled to any portion of the estate of the declarant upon the declarant's death under any will of the declarant or codicil thereto then existing or under the Intestate Succession Act as it then provides, (iii) are not the attending physician, licensed health care providers who are paid employees of the attending physician, paid employees of a health facility in which the declarant is a patient, or paid employees of a nursing home or any adult care home in which the declarant resides, and (iv) do not have a claim against any portion of the estate of the declarant at the time of the declaration; and

(4) That has been proved before a clerk or assistant clerk of superior court, or a notary public who certifies substantially as set out in subsection (d1) of this section. A notary who takes the acknowledgement may but is not required to be a paid employee of the attending physician, a paid employee of a health facility in which the declarant is a patient, or a paid employee of a nursing home or any adult care home in which the declarant resides.

(d) Repealed by Session Laws 2007-502, s. 11(b), effective October 1, 2007.

(d1) The following form is specifically determined to meet the requirements of subsection (c) of this section:

(e) A declaration may be revoked by the declarant, in writing or in any manner by which the declarant is able to communicate the declarant's intent to revoke in a clear and consistent manner, without regard to the declarant's mental or physical condition. A health care provider shall have no liability for acting in accordance with a revoked declaration unless the provider has actual notice of the revocation. A health care agent may not revoke a declaration unless the health care power of attorney explicitly authorizes that revocation; however, a health care agent may exercise any authority explicitly given to the health care agent in a declaration. A guardian of the person of the declarant or general guardian may not revoke a declaration.

(f) The execution and consummation of declarations made in accordance with subsection (c) shall not constitute suicide for any purpose.

(g) No person shall be required to sign a declaration in accordance with subsection (c) as a condition for becoming insured under any insurance contract or for receiving any medical treatment.

(h) The withholding or discontinuance of life prolonging measures in accordance with this section shall not be considered the cause of death for any civil or criminal purposes nor shall it be considered unprofessional conduct or a lack of professional competence. Any person, institution or facility against whom criminal or civil liability is asserted because of conduct in compliance with this section may interpose this section as a defense. The protections of this section extend to any valid declaration, including a document valid under subsection (l) of this section; these protections are not limited to declarations prepared in accordance with the statutory form provided in subsection (d1) of this section, or to declarations filed with the Advance Health Care Directive Registry maintained by the Secretary of State. A health care provider may rely in good faith on an oral or written statement by legal counsel that a document appears to meet the statutory requirements for a declaration.

(i) Use of the statutory form prescribed in subsection (d1) of this section is an optional and nonexclusive method for creating a declaration and does not affect the use of other forms of a declaration, including previous statutory forms.

(j) The form provided by this section may be combined with or incorporated into a health care power of attorney form meeting the requirements of Article 3 of Chapter 32A of the General Statutes; provided, however, that the resulting form shall be signed, witnessed, and proved in accordance with the provisions of this section.

(k) Notwithstanding subsection (c) of this section:

(1) An attending physician may decline to honor a declaration that expresses a desire of the declarant that life-prolonging measures not be used if doing so would violate that physician's conscience or the conscience-based policy of the facility at which the declarant is being treated; provided, an attending physician who declines to honor a declaration on these grounds must not interfere, and must cooperate reasonably, with efforts to substitute an attending physician whose conscience would not be violated by honoring the declaration, or transfer the declarant to a facility that does not have policies in force that prohibit honoring the declaration.

(2) An attending physician may decline to honor a declaration if after reasonable inquiry there are reasonable grounds to question the genuineness or validity of a declaration. The subsection imposes no duty on the attending physician to verify a declaration's genuineness or validity.

(l) Notwithstanding subsection (c) of this section, a declaration or similar document executed in a jurisdiction other than North Carolina shall be valid in this State if it appears to have been executed in accordance with the applicable requirements of that jurisdiction or this State.