This nothing new at all as far as I can tell. The “Houston Plan” has been in effect since 1999, and the hospitals in Texas were pushing since the mid-1990s for greater control of taking such health care decisions away from mere patients and families. At the moment, there are about 40 states where doctors are legally immune when placing such directives contrary to expressed wishes of patients in advanced directives. Repeat, this is nothing new and they are probably just tweaking the words.
Agree. I have seen them in action twice while helping my mom through cancer treatment. Once in Mississippi while she was going through throat cancer treatment and ended up in hospital. I saw a DNR tag on the foot of her bed, which neither she or I had ordered. When I questioned the nurses what would happen if her throat closed up, would they clear it in order for her to breathe, she said no, not with the order on her bed. We demanded right then and there that it be removed permanently from her record. Bear in mind that at the time, the radiation had eaten a hole practically all the way through her neck and it was quite possible that the swelling could have blocked her airways at any time. In that event, nothing would have been done to clear her airway with that order tag. I am happy to report that she made it through that round of treatment and hardship and lived another 4 years. She died from a massive heart attack at home. God rest her sweet soul.