To learn more about Maryland's Health Care Decisions Act and related law, explore these resources:
Text of the Act (as amended through 2023 legislation) Summary of the Act Description of "health care proxies" (those who make decisions on behalf of patients who cannot do so personally) Slideshow presenting the Act's framework for health care decision-making as well as information about the Maryland Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) form. If you would like a representative from the Office of the Attorney General to do a presentation at your facility or group, please call 410-767-6918. Charts that set out a decision tree for use by physicians and other cliniciansDocumenting Surrogate Self-Selection. Sometimes surrogates with equal authority (e.g., adult children) decide among themselves who they want to act as the sole surrogate. In terms of the Health Care Decisions Act, the others make themselves “unavailable" by agreement. For further explanation, click here. An example of a surrogate decision-making agreement may be accessed here.