Penalties and Legal Sanctions for Violations

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Health
  4. Advance Directives for Health Care
  5. Penalties and Legal Sanctions for Violations

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All persons shall be subject to the following sanctions in relation to advance directives for health care, in addition to all other sanctions applicable under any other law or rule of professional conduct:

  1. Any person who, without the declarant's consent, willfully conceals, cancels, or alters an advance directive for health care or any amendment or revocation of the advance directive for health care or who falsifies or forges an advance directive for health care, amendment, or revocation shall be civilly liable and guilty of a misdemeanor;
  2. Any person who falsifies or forges an advance directive for health care of another or who willfully conceals or withholds personal knowledge of an amendment or revocation of an advance directive for health care with the intent to cause a withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures or the withholding or withdrawal of the provision of nourishment or hydration contrary to the intent of the declarant and thereby, because of such act, directly causes life-sustaining procedures or the provision of nourishment or hydration to be withheld or withdrawn and death thereby to be hastened shall be subject to prosecution for criminal homicide as provided in Chapter 5 of Title 16;
  3. Any person who requires or prevents execution of an advance directive for health care as a condition of ensuring or providing any type of health care services to an individual shall be civilly liable and guilty of a misdemeanor; and
  4. Any person who willfully witnesses an advance directive for health care knowing at the time he or she is not eligible to witness such advance directive under subsection (c) of Code Section 31-32-5 or who coerces or attempts to coerce a person into making an advance directive for health care shall be civilly liable and guilty of a misdemeanor.

(Code 1981, §31-32-13, enacted by Ga. L. 2007, p. 133, § 2/HB 24.)


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