[Patient autonomy--legal status in Austria].
The so-called living will is also an object of controversy in the Austrian legal literature. Especially the question to what extent this kind of advance directing is binding for the physician, the patient's legal guardian and the court is not yet resolved. Whereas a majority of Austrian legal scholars is of the opinion that an advance refusal of treatment made with capacity simply survives any supervening incapacity, the author proposes that the irreversibly incompetent patient should basically be treated according to what is called an "objective standard".
Institut für Zivilrecht, Ausländisches und Internationales Privatrecht, Resowi-Zentrum, Universität Graz, Universitätsstrasse 15/D4, 8010 Graz, Osterreich. erwin.bernat@kfunigraz.ac.at
Erwin
E
Bernat
D001317:Austria; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans; D007872:Legal Guardians; D016224:Living Wills / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D016743:Mental Competency / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D016312:Treatment Refusal / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*