Tex. Health & Safety Code § 166.039 · Subchapter B. DIRECTIVE TO PHYSICIANS
PROCEDURE WHEN PERSON HAS NOT EXECUTED OR ISSUED A DIRECTIVE AND IS INCOMPETENT OR INCAPABLE OF COMMUNICATION.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(a) If an adult qualified patient has not executed or issued a directive and is incompetent or otherwise mentally or physically incapable of communication, the attending physician and the patient's legal guardian or an agent under a medical power of attorney may make a treatment decision that may include a decision to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment from the patient.
(b) If the patient does not have a legal guardian or an agent under a medical power of attorney, the attending physician and one person, if available, from one of the following categories, in the following priority, may make a treatment decision that may include a decision to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment:
(1) the patient's spouse;
(2) the patient's reasonably available adult children;
(3) the patient's parents; or
(4) the patient's nearest living relative.
(c) A treatment decision made under Subsection (a) or (b) must be based on knowledge of what the patient would desire, if known.
(d) A treatment decision made under Subsection (b) must be documented in the patient's medical record and signed by the attending physician.
(e) If the patient does not have a legal guardian and a person listed in Subsection (b) is not available, a treatment decision made under Subsection (b) must be concurred in by another physician who is not involved in the treatment of the patient or who is a representative of an ethics or medical committee of the health care facility in which the person is a patient.
(f) The fact that an adult qualified patient has not executed or issued a directive does not create a presumption that the patient does not want a treatment decision to be made to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment.
(g) A person listed in Subsection (b) who wishes to challenge a treatment decision made under this section must apply for temporary guardianship under Chapter 1251, Estates Code. The court may waive applicable fees in that proceeding.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 291, Sec. 3, eff. Jan. 1, 1998. Renumbered from Sec. 672.009 and amended by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 450, Sec. 1.03, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
Amended by:
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 219), Sec. 3.0502, eff. April 2, 2015.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/HS/htm/HS.166.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 6b28c2d5a8351b46a8497d1ca2a3ed83567bea6bd0bddcb8bd3f5dd60cc04de1
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Cited by 4 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Tex. Health & Safety Code § 166.039. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Health and Safety Code
- Tex. Health & Safety Code § 166.088PROCEDURE WHEN PERSON HAS NOT EXECUTED OR ISSUED OUT-OF-HOSPITAL DNR ORDER AND IS INCOMPETENT OR INCAPABLE OF COMMUNICATION.Printed as Section 166.039(b)
- Tex. Health & Safety Code § 166.203GENERAL PROCEDURES AND REQUIREMENTS FOR DO-NOT-RESUSCITATE ORDERS.Printed as Section 166.039 | Section 166.039(b)(1)
- Tex. Health & Safety Code § 166.204NOTICE REQUIREMENTS FOR DO-NOT-RESUSCITATE ORDERS.Printed as Section 166.039(b) | Section 166.039(b)(1)
- Tex. Health & Safety Code § 166.205REVOCATION OF DO-NOT-RESUSCITATE ORDER; LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.Printed as Section 166.039(e)
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.