Why You Want to Have a Medical Directive
If you are young and healthy, you may not think it’s necessary to establish who will make medical decisions for you in the event of injury or illness. You may believe that setting up an advance medical directive is only for the old or the infirm. You are wrong.
The reality is that tragedy can strike at any time, and can affect anyone. If you don’t put a clear process in place to allow someone else to make your medical decisions when you cannot, you may end up putting an unnecessary burden on your loved ones. Without an advance medical directive to guide them, family members may be uncertain who will make decisions for you or, worse yet, may get into disputes about what treatment is best for you.
Though some states have statutes that govern situations where a patient does not have a medical directive/medical power of attorney, they are typically limited to decisions about withholding or withdrawing treatment. Such states generally have a priority list, identifying the order in which your loved ones have authority to make medical decisions for you. But most of those states grant the power to determine what type of care is given to doctors, not to family members.
Before you put a medical directive in place, you want to obtain the permission of the person you plan to name, and you want to provide clear direction to them regarding all types of treatment. This should include:
- Whether you want artificial means of life support to be used
- Whether you want to be resuscitated
- Any types of medication you do or do not want used
- Any surgical procedures that you do or do not want
Contact Aronberg, Kouser, Snyder & Lindemann, P. A., Attorneys at Law
At Aronberg, Kouser, Snyder & Lindemann, P. A., we have more than 35 years of experience helping people in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Contact us by e-mail or call our office at 856-429-1700. Your initial consultation is free.
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