Part III Futile Care--Knowing What It Is May Save Your Life Or The Life Of A Loved One

RFFM.org ^ | August 13, 2008 | Bill Beckman

[Daniel T. Zanoza]

Editor's Note: This is the third in a series of seven columns first posted on the Illinois Right to Life Committee's (IRLC) website [http://www.illinoisrighttolife.org/] written by Bill Beckman, IRLC's executive director. The column discusses "futile care," a method of medical evaluation whereby a physician makes the decision on whether a patient is "worthy" of life-saving treatment. This column warns readers of the need to monitor the care given to loved ones. Beckman tells a heart-breaking, but true story which, for a time, ended happily, but could have concluded in disaster with the induced premature death of Andrea Clark. The IRLC director also describes what readers can do to protect themselves from the looming culture of death which permeates the thinking of many medical facilities in our nation.

The following was written by Bill Beckman

You are preparing to take or have already enacted a life-affirming advance directive such as Illinois Right to Life Committee's Patient Self-Protection Document. Now you are fully protected, right? Unfortunately, in some cases, even this step may not be sufficient to protect your life in all cases. The following circumstances occurred in Texas, but some hospitals around the nation are forming ethics committees. These committees are making decisions about denial of patient care that, in some situations, can override a patient's advance directive, with, or even without, support of a state law. The only way to reduce the nightmare of encountering these circumstances is to verify that ...