Living Will. Download online state specific an Advance Directive, Revocable Living Will Forms
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To better understand the issues relating to your legal situation or problem, our legal information and other law related facts may be of interest to you
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Hydration and Artificial .
"Artificial nutrition and hydration" means the provision of nutrients or fluids by a tube inserted in a vein, under the skin in the subcutaneous tissues, or in the stomach (gastrointestinal tract).
"Irreversible condition" means a condition, injury, or illness: (1) that may be treated, but is never cured or eliminated; (2) that leaves a person unable to care for or make decisions for the person's own self; and (3) that, without life-sustaining treatment provided in accordance with the prevailing standard of medical care, is fatal.
Many serious illnesses such as cancer, failure of major organs (kidney, heart, liver, or lung), and serious brain disease such as Alzheimer's dementia may be considered irreversible early on. There is no cure, but the patient may be kept alive for prolonged periods of time if the patient receives life-sustaining treatments. Late in the course of the same illness, the disease may be considered terminal when, even with treatment, the patient is expected to die. You may wish to consider which burdens of treatment you would be willing to accept in an effort to achieve a particular outcome. This is a very personal decision that you may wish to discuss with your physician, family, or other important persons in your life.
"Life-sustaining treatment" means treatment that, based on reasonable medical judgment, sustains the life of a patient and without which the patient will die. The term includes both life-sustaining medications and artificial life support such as mechanical breathing machines, kidney dialysis treatment, and artificial hydration and nutrition. The term does not include the administration of pain management medication, the performance of a medical procedure necessary to provide comfort care, or any other medical care provided to alleviate a patient's pain. "Terminal condition" means an incurable condition caused by injury, disease, or illness that according to reasonable medical judgment will produce death within six months, even with available life-sustaining treatment provided in accordance with the prevailing standard of medical care.
Many serious illnesses may be considered irreversible early in the course of the illness, but they may not be considered terminal until the disease is fairly advanced. In thinking about terminal illness and its treatment, you again may wish to consider the relative benefits and burdens of treatment and discuss your wishes with your physician, family, or other important persons in your life.
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Legal Articles about Living Will
Living Will Frequently Asked Questions
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Living Will And Durable Power Of Attorney For Health Care. What Is The Difference?
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Who Will Handle Your Health Care Proxy
There's no simpler estate planning document than a health care proxy in which you name someone ...
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Entrusting Life and Death Decisions
If you don't have a health-care proxy and a living will, your loved ones likely to suffer for it ...
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Family in dispute over care of woman with brain damage
The Guardian
A Court of Protection judge is being asked to consider whether she should continue to receive clinically assisted nutrition and hydration. The woman's ... But her sisters disagree and say an artificial feed should be maintained to see whether she might ...
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Dementia Patient At Center of Spoon-Feeding Controversy Dies
Coeur d'Alene Press
Nora Harris, a librarian and scholar who was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease at age 56, had drafted an advance directive that called for no measures to prolong her life, including artificial nutrition and hydration. Her husband contended ...
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