Living Will. Download online state specific an Advance Directive, Revocable Living Will Forms
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Entrusting Life and death decisions in New York (by Lynn Brenner) - Part III.
As backup. By the same token, a health-care proxy can be crucial support for a Living Will. As an example, Krooks cites a Westchester case in which a hospital refused a husband's request to terminate his wife's life support, despite the instructions in her Living Will. "The hospital's Lawyers argued that it wasn't crystal clear that she would have wanted termination of life support to apply in this case," says Krooks. Her husband had no health-care proxy authorizing him to make the decision. "His wife lived six more months in the hospital, at a cost of $250,000," Krooks says, "and the hospital is now suing him for payment."
Advance directives are revocable - you can change your mind. And of course, these documents don't come into play unless doctors certify that you're incapacitated. Many of us aren't sure what we'd want in such a dire situation - and, of course, we can't know what medical treatments may be available in the future.
That's what's attractive about a health-care proxy: You don't have to anticipate every contingency; instead, you leave the ultimate decision to a person you trust. But how to choose that person? I'll write about that in my next column.
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.
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