The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
(Cite as: 18 V.S.A. § 7629)
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§ 7629. Legislative intent
(a) It is the intention of the General Assembly to recognize the right of a legally competent
person to determine whether or not to accept medical treatment absent an emergency
or a determination that the person is incompetent and lacks the ability to make a
decision and appreciate the consequences.
(b) The General Assembly adopts the goal of high-quality, patient-centered health care,
which the Institute of Medicine defines as “providing care that is respectful of and
responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values and ensuring that
patient values guide all clinical decisions.” A substitute decision-maker is sometimes
necessary to make a decision about care when a person is incompetent and lacks the
ability to make a decision and appreciate the consequences. Even when a person lacks
competence, health care that a person is opposing should be avoided whenever possible
because the distress and insult to human dignity that result from compelling a person
to participate in medical treatment against his or her will are real, regardless of
how poorly the person may understand the decision.
(c) It is the policy of the General Assembly to work toward a mental health system that
does not require coercion or the use of involuntary medication.
(d) This chapter protects the rights and values described in this section through a judicial
process to determine competence prior to an order for nonemergency involuntary medication
and by limiting the duration of an order for involuntary treatment to no more than
one year. The least restrictive order consistent with the person’s right to adequate
treatment shall be provided in all cases. (Added 1997, No. 114 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 2013, No. 192 (Adj. Sess.), § 16.)