title: Foregoing life-sustaining treatment for adult, developmentally disabled, public wards: a proposed statute.
abstract: This Article proposes a procedure for making decisions to forego life-sustaining treatment for adult, developmentally disabled, public wards who are not competent to make health care decisions. Few commentators or cases address the special considerations involved in making life-sustaining treatment decisions for this patient population. The proposal attempts to fill this gap with a patient-centered process that allows decisionmakers, without prior judicial approval, to forego life-sustaining treatment for adult, developmentally disabled, public wards who have been reliably diagnosed with specific medical conditions.
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: McKnight
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bellis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016223:Advance Directives / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003128:Coma / Q000628:therapy; D032921:Consensus; D003657:Decision Making; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D028741:Ethics Committees, Clinical; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D033222:Judicial Role; D008020:Life Support Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards*; D016743:Mental Competency / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000592:standards; D010344:Patient Advocacy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D012297:Right to Die / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards; D016312:Treatment Refusal; D014481:United States; D028761:Withholding Treatment