A living will is a sure way to guarantee that you will get substandard medical care.
You are indemnifying the hospital/doctor against neglect.
"A living will is a sure way to guarantee that you will get substandard medical care.
You are indemnifying the hospital/doctor against neglect."
That is probably one of the most ill-informed comments that I have seen on this Board (and there have been many that the Schiavo case has elicited).
A living will provides your family with some direction at a time when it can be very difficult to make decisions. More importantly, one should TALK and DISCUSS his/her wishes with family so that there are no disagrements. Again, the responsibility is to fulfull the wishes of the patient.
A quote from an editorial by Dr. Quill:
In considering such profound decisions, the central issue is not what family members would want for themselves or what they want for their incapacitated loved one, but rather what the patient would want for himself or herself. The New Jersey Supreme Court that decided the case of Karen Ann Quinlan got the question of substituted judgment right: If the patient could wake up for 15 minutes and understand his or her condition fully, and then had to return to it, what would he or she tell you to do?
NEJM April 21, 2005 issue Volume 352:1630-1633