title: Living wills: making life and death decisions.
abstract: Each day, health care providers and families across the United States struggle with decisions regarding life-sustaining treatments for patients in irreversible vegetative states. And each day, these decisionmakers must face the potential for lawsuits for agreeing or refusing to carry out directives that may have been the "wish" of the patient, but were never put in writing.
authors: American Health Care Association, Washington, DC.
authors: J M
authors: JM
authors: Riley
mesh_terms: D016223:Advance Directives; D003657:Decision Making; D004991:Ethics, Institutional; D005190:Family; D006801:Humans; D008020:Life Support Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D016224:Living Wills / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011367:Professional Staff Committees; D014481:United States