The prognosis for changes in end-of-life care after the Schiavo case.
Americans have reached consensus that (1) people have a right to refuse life-sustaining medical interventions, and (2) interventions that can be terminated include artificial nutrition and hydration. The one unresolved issue is how to decide for mentally incompetent patients. Only about 20 percent of Americans have completed living wills, and data show that family members are poor at predicting patients' wishes for life-sustaining care. But despite court cases and national consensus that these are private and not legislative matters, the Schiavo case is unlikely to change practices except to increase the number of Americans who complete living wills.
Hampson
Lindsay A
LA
Warren G. Magnuson Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Emanuel
Ezekiel J
EJ
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D006801:Humans; D008020:Life Support Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016224:Living Wills; D016743:Mental Competency; D018529:Nutritional Support; D018458:Persistent Vegetative State; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D011057:Politics; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011639:Public Opinion; D035521:Supreme Court Decisions; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000379:methods; D014481:United States; D014867:Water; D028761:Withholding Treatment / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence
D014867:Water