An examination of the right to refuse medical care in New York State from 1914 to 2008 by a competent adult, a mentally retarded individual, and a child

New York State permits competent adult patients to refuse medical care when it does not present a danger to the public. As technology has advanced, the delivery of medical care changed with the use of respirators and feeding tubes. Public policy also had to change, providing competent patients with the ability to make their wishes known to health care providers when they no longer could verbally communicate. Now it is possible to use the Advance Directives known as the Living Will and the Health Care Proxy, a written record of one's wishes for the time a person can no longer communicate them.;However, for many years, incompetent individuals, such as the mentally retarded or developmentally disabled, their guardians, or parents had no power to refuse medical care. In 2003 and again in 2007, New York State law was amended to permit guardians as well as family members of mentally retarded and developmentally disabled individuals to refuse medical care when they are terminally ill. The Surrogate Court Procedure Act, Section 1750 - b provides safeguards in order that this decision can be appealed to a mediator, or when necessary, to the courts for a judicial determination.;This study examined the history, the case law and the ethical debate about the refusal of medical care and whether it leads to euthanasia. It provides an educational tool for the guardian, the family and the caregivers of the mentally retarded patient to effectively understand and to utilize Section 1750 - b of the Surrogate's Court Procedure Act, the statute that permits the guardian or family member of a mentally retarded patient to refuse medical care.