Texas Advance Directives Act - Legislative Hearings on the Medical Futility 10-Day Rule

Over the past year, Texas courts have challenged the legitimacy of the dispute resolution provisions in the Texas Advance Directives Act. These provisions are often called the "10-day rule" because once a hospital review committee determines that desire life-sustaining treatment is inappropriate, the patient's family has 10 days to transfer the patient to another facility willing to provide the disputed treatment.  

While the Tinslee Lewis litigation continues, the Texas Legislature is hearing a number of bills that would eliminate or improve the procedural fairness of the 10-day rule. 

This week, the Senate Health & Human Services Committee hears hours of testimony on S.B. 917 and S.B. 1944. Next week, the House Public Health Committee will hear testimony on H.B. 2609. Like S.B. 917, H.B. 2609 would eliminate the 10-day rule. 

None of this is new. As I describe here, since 2005, the Texas Legislature has heard dozens of bills that would either improve or eliminate the 10-day rule.