An advance directive is a set of instructions, either verbal or written, that people create to describe how they want their medical care to be carried out in the event they become incompetent or incapacitated. Living wills and durable power of attorney are two examples of an advance directive. A living will is a legal document that a person creates to designate how they will be taken care in the event of a terminal illness, especially during the final stages of that terminal illness. The living will usually contains three things: it appoints a surrogate or proxy to take over once the patient is unable to make decisions, an authorization to withhold or end life-sustaining procedures and specific directives concerning what procedures may or
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The inadequacy of the laws that govern advance directives allow for too much interpretation of the patient’s requests by healthcare workers. An example of this is the case of Werth v. Taylor. Ms. Werth, a Jehovah’s Witness, had signed a written preregistration refusal of all blood products at the hospital where she planned on delivering her twins. While under general anesthesia following her delivery, Ms. Werth experience life-threatening bleeding and the physician overrode her refusals and administered a blood transfusion. The physician was aware of her refusals and testified in court that when she asked Ms. Werth for consent to do a blood transfusion, Ms. Werth stated no, but her husband expressed concern. The court accepted the physician’s testimony and concluded that all previous refusals up to this point were inapplicable because Mr. Werth expressed concern over the risk of the procedure. When advance directives are ignored or violated by healthcare personnel the patient or their representatives may file for damages based on negligent tort of malpractice or intentional tort of medical battery, though many of these claims have been unsuccessful. Due to the unsuccessfulness of the previous claims, some patients have asserted “wrongful living” claims, which have led to much confusion in the case law and literature on how to treat these claims …show more content…
Autonomy in advance directives refers to the patients or surrogates right to self-determination regarding medical decisions about their care. Beneficence is the obligation of the healthcare worker to advocate for the patient’s best interest, above all other considerations. Nonmalfeasance means to do no harm, with the goal to prevent and alleviate pain and suffering of the patient (Geppert, Andrews & Druyan, 2010). According to Geppert et.al, “ethical dilemmas are resolved through the balancing and specification of the various principles in the application to clinical
The inadequacy of the laws that govern advance directives allow for too much interpretation of the patient’s requests by healthcare workers. An example of this is the case of Werth v. Taylor. Ms. Werth, a Jehovah’s Witness, had signed a written preregistration refusal of all blood products at the hospital where she planned on delivering her twins. While under general anesthesia following her delivery, Ms. Werth experience life-threatening bleeding and the physician overrode her refusals and administered a blood transfusion. The physician was aware of her refusals and testified in court that when she asked Ms. Werth for consent to do a blood transfusion, Ms. Werth stated no, but her husband expressed concern. The court accepted the physician’s testimony and concluded that all previous refusals up to this point were inapplicable because Mr. Werth expressed concern over the risk of the procedure. When advance directives are ignored or violated by healthcare personnel the patient or their representatives may file for damages based on negligent tort of malpractice or intentional tort of medical battery, though many of these claims have been unsuccessful. Due to the unsuccessfulness of the previous claims, some patients have asserted “wrongful living” claims, which have led to much confusion in the case law and literature on how to treat these claims …show more content…
Autonomy in advance directives refers to the patients or surrogates right to self-determination regarding medical decisions about their care. Beneficence is the obligation of the healthcare worker to advocate for the patient’s best interest, above all other considerations. Nonmalfeasance means to do no harm, with the goal to prevent and alleviate pain and suffering of the patient (Geppert, Andrews & Druyan, 2010). According to Geppert et.al, “ethical dilemmas are resolved through the balancing and specification of the various principles in the application to clinical