Living Will Directive Act
By asking a doctor discuss end of life care, are you asking that doctor to act as your lawyer?
And should doctors take that risk upon themselves? Advance directives, DNRs, durable power of attorney and living wills are not exactly medical documents, but rather legal documents. And the laws regarding them differ by State. Should doctors be the ones to give this kind of advice? Or should someone see an attorney to discuss this area?
This is an interesting question. The end-of-life care provision was suggested by a Republican congressman who, I believe, had dealt with his own aged mother’s wishes. Doctors traditionally ask a close relative (spouse or life partner, for example) if someone severely injured (and unable to speak for him/herself) wants heroic measures taken to prolong life (the Shaivo case comes to mind). When there is no Living Will, the decision is oftentime guesswork for relatives, who may not be privy to the patient’s wishes. Some people like to have a Living Will before anything is actually wrong, just to be certain their wishes are documented should anything catastrophic occur. All the provision allows for is that doctors who participate in a consult with patients to discuss end-of-life options be paid for this participation. The patient gets to choose preferred options on their own, contrary to what right-wing extremists would have us think. Supposedly, the doctors are simply sharing a full list of options in a noncommital way, so that the patient is made fully aware of all possible choices available (like hospice, or in-home care instead of a hospital stay), and then answering any questions the patient might have without coercion or bias. Would a Notary be sufficient to authenticate the Living Will?
Family Health Care Decisions Act
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Trumping advance directives. (Patient Self-Determination Act) (Practicing the PSDA): An article from: The Hastings Center Report $5.95 This digital document is an article from The Hastings Center Report, published by Hastings Center on September 1, 1991. The length of the article is 1109 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation DetailsTi… |
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Honoring broader directives. (Patient Self-Determination Act) (Practicing the PSDA): An article from: The Hastings Center Report $5.95 This digital document is an article from The Hastings Center Report, published by Hastings Center on September 1, 1991. The length of the article is 1138 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation DetailsTi… |
