IL bill allowing non-physicians to act on 'do not resuscitate' orders jeopardizes patient safety
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Litigation Staff Counsel Catherine Glenn Foster regarding her written testimony submitted to the Illinois House Health Care Licenses Committee Wednesday in opposition to S.B. 3076, which would allow non-physicians to execute patient “do not resuscitate” orders, now known as “life-sustaining treatment” orders:
“Patient safety should be the number one concern of the medical profession. This bill threatens patient safety by allowing medical personnel such as nurses, physician assistants, and residents—some with only one year of experience—to execute an order that could result in a patient’s death. S.B. 3076 carries very dangerous unintended consequences. The state should not put patient lives at risk by opening the floodgates to personnel potentially untrained in the delicate and nuanced decisions inherent in any advance directive.”
“Patient safety should be the number one concern of the medical profession. This bill threatens patient safety by allowing medical personnel such as nurses, physician assistants, and residents—some with only one year of experience—to execute an order that could result in a patient’s death. S.B. 3076 carries very dangerous unintended consequences. The state should not put patient lives at risk by opening the floodgates to personnel potentially untrained in the delicate and nuanced decisions inherent in any advance directive.”
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.
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