A pending bill in West Virginia will allow doctors to refuse CPR in futile situations, even against a patient’s advanced directives:

Under the bill, if a patient has a living will or medical power of attorney requesting CPR be used to extend life, doctors could refuse to perform it if the attending physician and another doctor agree it would be “medically ineffective.”

Medically ineffective CPR is defined in the bill (HB4022, SB161) as CPR that would be unsuccessful in restoring pulmonary function or that would restore it for only minutes or hours, even if repeated.

Under those circumstances, doctors who refuse to perform CPR could not be subject to criminal or civil liability.

Doctors would have to inform the patient and the patient’s authorized decision-maker about the plan to withhold CPR and give them an opportunity to change doctors. If the patient cannot be transferred to another doctor’s care, the doctor and health care facility would still not be required to provide medically ineffective CPR, the bill says.