life-sustaining medical treatment (LSMT) – The Good Death Society Blog

March 22, 2020

COVID-19 Reveals A Deadly Failure of Priorities

Diane Coleman, President and CEO of Not Dead Yet, looks at the lack of resources available in the health care system as the nation prepares for overwhelming COVID-19 cases and discusses hoe the disabled will be significantly endangered. (Continue reading ...)

March 17, 2019

Refusing unwanted medical treatment–Part 5: Physician liability, continued

This is the final post of the series reviewing Professor Thaddeus Pope's analysis of why clinicians perceive that not following a patient's preferences about end-of-life care carries little risk for them. Additional legal remedies (causes of action available against clinicians who ignore patient choices), along with administrative penalties, and possible criminal liability for clinicians in some jurisdictions are discussed. (Continue reading ...)

March 10, 2019

Refusing unwanted medical treatment–Part 4: Physician liability

In Part 4 of this review of Professor Thaddeus Pope's analysis of liability for a clinician's providing unwanted life-sustaining medical treatment (LSMT), the focus is on on why clinicians perceive that not following a patient's preferences about end-of-life care carries little risk for them and looking at more recent successful causes of action against clinicians. (Continue reading ...)

March 3, 2019

Refusing unwanted medical treatment, Part 3: Why ADs sometimes fail

In this, Part 3 of my review of Professor Thaddeus Pope's paper about the legal issues surrounding unwanted life-sustaining medical treatment (LSMT), I focus on problems with advance directives (ADs). (Continue reading ...)