PHI-2635 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Advance Healthcare Directive
Document Summary
Advance directive: legal instructions regarding your preferences for medical care if you are unable to make decisions about your medical care. Legal documents, not just stuff that is written down. The thought that your proxy or whoever is making decisions for you should be abiding by the document. The first task to take in the case of a formerly competent patient is to find out whether the patient expressed what they wanted to happen to them in the present situation. She experienced too much time without oxygen to her brain and went into a coma. You can have both a proxy directive and a advance directive in a will. If the directive is not specific enough then the directive will not be followed. If the directive is too specific then the directive will not be followed because it is too specific and it does not apply to the case.
