This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News on July 31, 2017. Senate Bill 11 was introduced on July 12, 2017 and passed by the Texas Senate on July 26. It has been sent to the Texas House for consideration. There is no existing statutory law relating specifically to DNR orders for inpatients at hospitals; rather, the current law deals only with Out-of-Hospital DNR orders for individuals who are not receiving inpatient care (that is, they are at home, at a docto

Dear Mr. Premack: My father has been in the nursing home for a few years, and I recently (as his agent under his medical power of attorney) authorized an out-of-hospital DNR for him. He has been through so much, and would not have any quality of life if he was resuscitated. What I’d like to know is whether this out of hospital DNR also applies if he is transferred into a hospital, or if there is something more I must do upon hospitalization? – T.F. The initials DNR stand for