Treating Ed

1. Treating Ed A Medical Ethics Case Study

2. What are we doing • Objective – consider ramifications of advance directions and durable powers of attourney • Think about what rights: • Doctors have • Patients have • People appoint as patient representatives have • Note: This is based on a true story

3. Living Will • A document that describes how you want to be medically treated in the event that you are unable to speak for yourself, due to illness, old age, or injury. Living wills can have various subdocuments, including Durable Power of Attorney, an organ donation form, or statements of your personal values that you think would be helpful for a doctor making treatment decisions.

4. Durable Power of Attorney • Adocument that legally names another person to make decisions for you. A Health Care Proxy is restricted to actual health care decisions, whereas the Durable Power of Attorney is broader, enabling the designee to sign checks, make bank transactions, apply for disability funds, etc. A Durable Power of Attorney empowers the designee to do a broad variety of transactions to which you will be legally bound, and technically they do not have to wait until you are incapacitated, so it is not a document to be filed lightly. There are various other powers of attorney (Limited Power of Attorney, Springing Power of Attorney) that have more restrictions, but also may be quite complicated to decide when they should be invoked.

5. Advance Directive • A document that describes what types of medical treatment you would and would not like to receive. A good one should be quite detailed, considering issues such as the care you want if you are likely to remain unconscious, if your condition is terminal, or if you will possibly recover. While the legal implications vary from state to state, Advance Directives typically are advisory and not regulatory. In other words, your doctor should consider your wishes, but does not have to comply.

6. HIPAA • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 • Regulates what people may or may not tell • Basically, personal health information must be kept private, but in the event the patient is incapacitated, the health care professional may disclose personal information if in his/her judgment the disclosure is in the best interests of the patient

7. Role Play • Narrator – Mr. Andy • Ed • Dr. Goldstein • Eric