Patients complete advance directives without a physician's approval, though they may seek a physician's advice in doing so. Only a physician can issue a DNR order or a POLST, in consultation with the patient or surrogate. So long as the preferences and directives of patients are an integral part of the process, POLSTs appear to be a useful addition to late-stage medical care decision making
Whether intentionally or inadvertently, a recent article in the Washington Post, written by a reporter with Kaiser Health News, provides confusing, incomplete, misleading, and perhaps inaccurate information about the choices a person with dementia may have. It dismisses legal issues by citing opinions from non-legal professionals.
On this blog, we have dealt often with aspects of advance directives. To prepare for using a dementia directive, readers may benefit from a discussion of the development of advance directives and problems with their language. References to several dementia directives or supplements are provided.
Not only is Canada further advanced than all states in the US with respect to Medical Aid In Dying (MAID or MAiD), it also has surpassed the US for those who want to Voluntarily Stop Eating and Drinking.
Prof. Thaddeus Mason Pope explains the newly-effective Nevada advance directive that allows dementia patients to voluntarily stop eating and drinking (VSED) after loss of cognitive capacity, and suggests how it may be used in some other states.
In its new "Dementia Values & Priorities Tool," Compassion and Choices (C&C) helps people clarify their wishes if they acquire dementia. They offer a satisfactory, though limited, list of dementia-related symptoms (discussed in Part 1). In Part 2, I have identified a few other (or slightly different) symptoms that are important to me in the event that I lose the ability to hasten my own death because of dementia or some unexpected reason, such as a stroke or other event that renders me incapable of carrying out a hastened death. Part 2 concludes an analysis of C&C's approach to dementia.
Compassion & Choices is trying to do more for those with a dementia diagnosis through a new online "Dementia Values & Priorities Tool." This post is the first part of an exploration of C&C's approach to dementia advance planning.
A recent article in the Washington Post produced by Kaiser Health News and written by Melissa Bailey asserts that openly discussing a self-controlled death, no matter how rational the discussion, is viewed by some people as "subversive" or, at least, out of the ordinary or suspect.
The earlier five-part series looking at Thaddeus Pope's analysis of the risks faced by clinicians who do not follow the advance directives of their patients has been augmented by a case that was recently settled for $1 million. The settlement was reported on March 28, 2019, in the North Coast Journal, Humboldt County, California.
