Living wills do have legal effect provided certain criteria are met

Do guidelines have legal implications?

linical guidelines are becoming an increasingly common feature of the health care environment in the UK, with health organisations such as the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE), Royal medical colleges , and the universities regularly developing clinical guidelines. The development rate of clinical guidelines has even been termed a " flood " in the area of general medical practice...

Living wills and religious communities.

Are patients fulfilling MET criteria recognized?

Results A total of 155 patients with abnormal vital signs were identified, and nursing staff was interviewed about 139 patients. In 61 of these 139 patients, one or more vital signs were measured by the evening nursing staff. The respiratory rate was not measured by nursing staff. In 86 cases staff decided to intervene because of abnormal vital signs measured by study personnel. A total of 77% ...

Advance directives and living wills.

The article focuses on the philosophical, ethical and juridical problems concerning Advance directives and Living Wills (underlining analogies and differences). The author makes a critical comparison between the theories supporting Living Wills (the liberal theory appealing to the principle of self-determination and the utilitarian theory on the "quality of life") and the reasons against them (...

Advance Directives and Living Wills for Muslims

I will start my talk with an actual case. JW, 74, the father of a Catholic physician, who is also an ethicist in a Catholic hospital, suffered a massive stroke that left him paralyzed with receptive and expressive aphasia. His advance directive stated that he did not want mechanical ventilation, nutrition, or hydration if he were to end up in a terminal state. He is now paralyzed and has expres...