Self Determination Act

1. To the extent allowed by law, it is our policy to follow the directions with respect to medical care at the Texas Spine & Joint Hospital of our patients who have the capacity to make decisions.  You will be considered to have the capacity to make health care decisions unless unconscious, determined to be incompetent by a court of law or determined medically unable by your attending physician.
2. Before any non-emergency medical treatment is performed, you have a right to receive from your physician whatever information you need to give your informed consent.  The information provided to you should answer your questions about the intended procedure or treatment, the potential risks associated with the treatment, and alternative treatments and their risks.  You will be asked to sign a form verifying you have given your physician your consent to perform the procedure.
3. If you refuse treatment, you will be informed by your physician of significant medical consequences that may result from this refusal,and you may be asked to sign a form about your refusal.
4. If you are unable to make decisions, but have signed a valid advance directive, we will follow your directive to the extent allowed under Texas law.  No life-sustaining treatment may be removed during pregnancy.
5. If you are unable to take sufficient food and water by mouth to keep you alive and are without capacity to make health care decisions, Texas law considers that you have directed that tube feedings be administered, unless:
   • You have an advance directive specifying the withholding or withdrawals of tube feedings and you are in a condition defined in your directive;
   • Your physician clearly knows or a court finds that when competent and with information necessary to make such a decision, you decided that tube feedings should be withheld or withdrawn;
   • The tube feedings themselves would cause you severe, intractable and long-lasting pain;
   • Tube feedings are not medically possible; or
   • You are chronically and irreversibly and in the final stages of a terminal illness or injury in which death is imminent and death will not be caused by dehydration or starvation.
6. Similarly, if you are without capacity to make health care decisions, you will be considered to have directed other life-sustaining treatment be given, unless;
   • You have a valid advance directive and are determined to be in a condition which qualifies you to have treatment withheld; or
   • The treatments are considered medically inappropriate or futile; or
   • All family members agree that the proposed treatment is not what you would want and your family members have signed a Family Verification to that effect.

If you have any question regarding our policies, please talk to your physician or nurse.