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Alaska Statutes.

Title 47. Welfare, Social Services and Institutions

Chapter 30. Mental Health

Section 838. Psychotropic Medication in Emergencies.

previous: Section 837. Informed Consent.
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AS 47.30.838. Psychotropic Medication in Emergencies.

(a) Except as provided in (c) and (d) of this section, an evaluation facility or designated treatment facility may administer psychotropic medication to a patient without the patient's informed consent, regardless of whether the patient is capable of giving informed consent, only if

(1) there is a crisis situation, or an impending crisis situation, that requires immediate use of the medication to preserve the life of, or prevent significant physical harm to, the patient or another person, as determined by a licensed physician or a registered nurse; the behavior or condition of the patient giving rise to a crisis under this paragraph and the staff's response to the behavior or condition must be documented in the patient's medical record; the documentation must include an explanation of alternative responses to the crisis that were considered or attempted by the staff and why those responses were not sufficient; and

(2) the medication is ordered by a licensed physician; the order

(A) may be written or oral and may be received by telephone, facsimile machine, or in person;

(B) may include an initial dosage and may authorize additional, as needed, doses; if additional, as needed, doses are authorized, the order must specify the medication, the quantity of each authorized dose, the method of administering the medication, the maximum frequency of administration, the specific conditions under which the medication may be given, and the maximum amount of medication that may be administered to the patient in a 24-hour period;

(C) is valid for only 24 hours and may be renewed by a physician for a total of 72 hours, including the initial 24 hours, only after a personal assessment of the patient's status and a determination that there is still a crisis situation as described in (1) of this subsection; upon renewal of an order under this subparagraph, the facts supporting the renewal shall be written into the patient's medical record.

(b) When a patient is no longer in the crisis situation that lead to the use of psychotropic medication without consent under (a) of this section, an appropriate health care professional shall discuss the crisis with the patient, including precursors to the crisis, in order to increase the patient's and the professional's understanding of the episode and to discuss prevention of future crises. The professional shall seek and consider the patient's recommendations for managing potential future crises.

(c) If crisis situations as described in (a)(1) of this section occur repeatedly, or if it appears that they may occur repeatedly, the evaluation facility or designated treatment facility may administer psychotropic medication during no more than three crisis periods without the patient's informed consent only with court approval under AS 47.30.839 .

(d) An evaluation facility or designated treatment facility may administer psychotropic medication to a patient without the patient's informed consent if the patient is unable to give informed consent but has authorized the use of psychotropic medication in an advance health care directive properly executed under AS 13.52 or has authorized an agent or surrogate under AS 13.52 to consent to this form of treatment for the patient and the agent or surrogate does consent.