Once a patient reaches the age of eighteen, he or she is capable of making their own medical decisions. A physician must determine if a patient is able to make their own medical decisions. The physician determines if the patient lacks in one or more of these qualities, patient must have the ability to understand the condition and treatment benefits, reason and deliberate treatment choices and make and communicate a decision. However, a patient that is under the age of eighteen or is unable to make their own medical decision, they must have a surrogate decision maker. A surrogate decision maker is when an individual can make medical decisions for someone else, which is based on the patient’s autonomy. There are four types of surrogates, which
