title: Second thoughts on living wills.
abstract: Advance directives such as living wills are attractive in that they give us a sense of control over our futures. But they also tend to obscure conflicts between a patient's competent wishes and later, incompetent interests. They allow caregivers to avoid evaluating quality of life in assessing the best interests of incompetent patients.
authors.affiliation: School of Law, University of Texas, Austin.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Robertson
mesh_terms: D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003657:Decision Making; D005544:Forecasting; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D016224:Living Wills; D016743:Mental Competency; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012945:Social Values; D035501:Uncertainty; D026712:Value of Life