Commentary 'Round-table' ethical debate: is a suicide note an authoritative 'living will'?Donald B Chalfin1, David Crippen2 1Department of Emergency Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York, USA 2St Francis Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, USA 3Department of Medical Ethics, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, USA 4Department of Critical Care, Montifiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA 5Department of Critical Care Medicine, Auckland Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand 6MICU, Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Critical Care 2001, 5:115-124doi:10.1186/cc1010
AbstractLiving wills are often considered by physicians who are faced with a dying patient. Although popular with the general public, they remain problems of authenticity and authority. It is difficult for the examining physician to know whether the patient understood the terms of the advance directive when they signed it, and whether they still consider it authoritative at the time that it is produced. Also, there is little consensus on what spectrum of instruments constitutes a binding advance directive in real life. Does a 'suicide note' constitute an authentic and authoritative 'living will'? Our panel of authorities considers this problem in a round-table discussion. |
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