I don’t have one and I have never advised a client to get one, but I recently listened to a news report about “do not resuscitate” or “DNR” tattoos and I was fascinated. The report was not specific to California but there has been discussion about whether such a tattoo must be honored by medical professionals in California. The short answer is probably not.
The controlling Probate Code Section is 4780 which discusses resuscitative measures and how they can be legally expressed. The code provides for specific requirements and a tattoo that either says “Do Not Resuscitate” or “DNR” does not fall within those requirements. The legally binding ways to express that you do not want to be resuscitated must be in the one of the three ways:
- Completion of a form developed by the Emergency Medical Services Authority (https://emsa.ca.gov/dnr_and_polst_forms/), or something substantially similar;
- Completion of a Physician’s Order for Life Sustaining Treatment (“POLST”) form which requires a physician’s signature; or
- A medallion that is engraved with “DNR” or “Do Not Resuscitate”, other identifying information, and contact information for the company issuing the medallion.
The only way a tattoo could fall into one of the three options above is if the complete Emergency Medical Services Authority form is tattooed on the person’s body. A POLST form could not be tattooed because it must be on bright pink paper and signed by a physician. While a tattoo is not legally binding, it could alert medical professionals that there are other documents, such as the Emergency Medical Services Authority document, that should be reviewed.