All patients with capacity have the right to make their own medical decisions, whether it is in their best interest or not. When a patient is incapacitated or is unable to express their wishes, then Arizona follows a hierarchy of surrogate decision makers: the first is the patient’s designated medical power of attorney, followed by a spouse, then child or children’s consensus, then parent, then domestic partner, then sibling, and then close friend. In circumstances where capacity is uncertain, we encourage you to contact medical control.
A surrogate decision maker cannot make medical decisions on behalf of the patient when the patient has the capacity to make their own decisions.Similarly, the surrogate should not be signing refusal documentation for patients with capacity to make their own medical decisions.