After three decades of urging Americans to write living wills, many doctors, lawyers and ethicists concede that these documents have largely failed.
The problems are many: Most people don't complete living wills. When they do, too often the paper isn't available when decisions about life support must be made.
Living wills, intended to ensure that patients' wishes are honored when they can't speak for themselves, rarely address the actual situations that arise. And many people don't really know in advance what treatments they would or wouldn't want.
"The 30 years of literature on living wills has shown very disappointing results," said Charles Sabatino, assistant director of the American Bar Association's Commission on Law and Aging. "The shortcomings of living wills are real. Dying is just too complicated."
Living wills not keeping promise
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An excellent article! It is a must-read! Is there a FR thread on it, or did you come across it on your own?
Good but disheartening article about living wills. How about a medical power of attorney?
I printed out two copies of the "will to live", but haven't gone over it yet. Would a medical power of attorney, naming someone who is not my legal next of kin, be good enough? I have personal reasons for excluding my oldest daughter.
Re: Sarasota Hospice wants to put clown statues all over Sarasota county. Clowns=Hospice? Is the Sarasota Hospice trying to improve their image or further their AGENDA with scary clowns? Don't be afraid when we take your food and water away. Don't worry be happy? The CULTURE OF DEATH USING CLOWNS TO DOWNPLAY WHAT THEY ARE REALLY DOING BEHIND CLOSED DOORS?
Excerpt from Miami Herald: ''The clown phobia thing is huge, I had no idea. There are people who just plum hate the images of clowns,'' said Virginia Hoffman, a sculptor and chair of Sarasota's Public Art Committee. ``I'm concerned about fallout. What if there are protests by clowns haters, or people who want to vandalize clown statues?''
FV says: Poor clown statues. But where was the outrage when a human being was being vandalized by the Starvation State of Florida???