Abstract
Mrs. K is a thirty-one-year-old Russian-speaking mother of two, who was brought in by ambulance after attempting suicide by jumping in front of train. Probable depression x months. Stressor: lost custody battle over older child. Current status: deep coma, ventilator-dependent, and prognosis grim. Next of kin is estranged husband; he demands participation in medical decision making. Legal proxy is patient's boyfriend; forcibly removed from the intensive care unit (ICU) for agitated behavior and alcohol intoxication.I magine the difficulty for the ICU staff as it tries to patch together the broken body of Mrs. K, described above. If, as appears likely, the physicians’ efforts begin to fail, who will speak for this patient, who can no longer speak for herself, and determine the appropriate goals and limits of intensive medical care?
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Subject
Health Policy,General Medicine,Issues, ethics and legal aspects
Reference23 articles.
1. 21. See, for example, Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 36-3231 (West 1998)
2. Colo. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 15-18.5-103 (West 1999)
3. and S.C. Code Ann. § 44-66-30 (Law Co-op. 1998).
4. 12. See, for example, Blustein, J. , “Organ Donation and the Question of Paternity” (unpublished manuscript).
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