Thaddeus Mason Pope (@thaddeuspope.bsky.social)

Default Surrogates - When Are They Reasonably Available? The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has just certified this question to the Supreme Court of Mississippi: Does Mississippi’s Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act require health care providers, in the absence of a designated surrogate, to identify qualifying family members and ensure that no such family member with higher priority is reasonably available under the circumstances before relying on a health care decision made by a lower-priority family member? Mark Anthony Stanford was a resident at Brandon Nursing and Rehabilitation Center when he was injured by a fire. When he sued Brandon, it argued that Stanford was bound by an arbitration agreement signed by his default surrogate, his brother. But Stanford argues the arbitration is invalid because his brother lacked authority to sign it. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi agreed. Stanford's brother lacked authority because Stanford's son was reasonably available. Because children are in a higher class than siblings, Stanford argues that Brandon should have looked to his son rather than to his brother as surrogate. While the case focuses on Mississippi law, that law was adapted from the UHCDA. And it is similar to most state health care decisions statutes across the country. http://dlvr.it/TPW2rN