Under what condition can a DNR be verbally confirmed to have legal weight?

Under what condition can a DNR be verbally confirmed to have legal weight?

• A. Only by the patient.
• B. By the patient or authorized surrogate if a valid DNR order exists.
• C. Only by a physician.
• D. Verbal confirmation is never valid.

Answer: (B)

The key idea is that Do Not Resuscitate status is a medical order that becomes legally effective only when there is a valid, properly documented DNR in the patient’s chart. A patient or an authorized surrogate can verbally confirm the DNR to the care team, but this verbal confirmation has legal weight only if a valid DNR order already exists in the medical record. This recognizes the patient’s autonomy while ensuring there's a formal, enforceable instruction guiding emergency responses. If there is no valid written order, a spoken statement alone generally isn’t legally binding.

The key idea is that Do Not Resuscitate status is a medical order that becomes legally effective only when there is a valid, properly documented DNR in the patient’s chart. A patient or an authorized surrogate can verbally confirm the DNR to the care team, but this verbal confirmation has legal weight only if a valid DNR order already exists in the medical record. This recognizes the patient’s autonomy while ensuring there's a formal, enforceable instruction guiding emergency responses. If there is no valid written order, a spoken statement alone generally isn’t legally binding.