A federal district court’s decision on a summary judgment motion has interpreted the New York State health care proxy statute. In Stein v. County of Nassau,1 the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District reached unambiguous conclusions on two aspects of the medical advance directive: its validity outside of a hospital-like setting and the procedural requirement necessary to trigger the agent’s authority to act.
Despite the clear guidance given to the specific issues raised, Stein exposes and leaves unanswered the most fundamental question about the health care proxy: is it a grant of authority that continues once authorized or it is a single time grant of authority that must be renewed with each medical decision? The opinion leaves this critical issue unresolved.
The Facts in ‘Stein’
