Originally published in June 2003
Do you want a say in your medical treatment?
Living Wills or, as they are more correctly called, ‘Advance Directives’ are instructions made whilst you have the necessary mental capacity to choose how you would like to be treated or cared for if you should subsequently lose your mental capacity to choose.
An Advance Directive can request specific treatments but it cannot request clinically inappropriate treatments. It cannot authorise a doctor to do anything illegal, nor can it authorise a doctor to do anything a patient with sound mental capacity could not request.
Often Advance Directives ask for life- sustaining procedures to be withheld in the event of the individual suffering a terminal illness. Such requests have nothing to do with euthanasia (which is illegal)or suicide.
It is an important principle that doctors are not legally bound to provide or refuse treatment as requested in an Advance Directive if it conflicts with their professional judgement. Nevertheless, the doctor will usually take your wishes into account when deciding on a course of action.
Discussion
If you plan to make an Advance Directive, it is sensible to consult your doctor. Trust and mutual understanding can be established between you and the doctor by openly discussing the advantages and disadvantages of certain options.
The doctor will explain foreseeable options and their implications. Where uncertainty exists, it can be addressed. Your doctor can also be requested to provide more specialised information if required.
An Advance Directive should not be made under pressure, so making one when being admitted to hospital is leaving it rather late. It is better for an Advance Directive to evolve over a period of time and discussion. This is particularly advisable if you want to refuse treatment or make a complicated request.
Review
It is advisable to review Advance Directives on a regular basis as circumstances change. However, a directive made a long time in the past is not automatically invalid if it covers the current situation.
© RadcliffesLeBrasseur
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.