End of Life – Who Decides?

Samuel and Grace are 82 years of age. They are both affected by various illnesses which have caused them to be despondent and anxious about the quality of their lives. They decide that they have lived long and happy lives and do not wish to prolong the pain and discomfort they experience. They decide to take overdoses of their medication and agree that they do not wish to place their family of two children in a difficult situation, so they will not tell them of their plan. They prepare a lengthy letter of explanation to the family.

Samuel and Grace take their respective overdoses and fall into deep sleep. Their daughter, Samantha, arrives at their home some three hours after the overdoses and finds her parents in what appears to be a comatose state. She cannot wake them and calls an ambulance which arrives shortly after. She reads the letter, screws it up and throws it away – her view is that they both had a good life and if there were mental health problems it would have been easy to arrange for a psychologist to see them.

The ambulance officers advise Samantha that her mother is deceased, however, her father is showing vital signs, and he is quickly taken to hospital where he is being examined by medical staff. Samantha insists that everything possible be done to save her father’s life.

Whilst Samuel is being worked on in the ICU, the hospital staff are advised that a person by the name of Charles is insistent on seeing the doctors in relation to Samuel. Charles presents a document which is a Power of Attorney (Medical) and it shows that Charles is the legal agent for Samuel. He advises the doctors that they must not resuscitate Samuel as it is his wish that he be allowed to die without resuscitation.

The doctors consider the approach by Charles and consult with the Hospital’s lawyers. They are advised that the Power of Attorney presented by Charles does not have the authority to stop the doctor’s legal obligations to resuscitate Samuel.

Samuel is resuscitated and after a lengthy period of medical treatment and recovery it is evident that he is unable to live independently, and his children arrange for him to be placed in a nursing home with 24-hour care.

Advanced  Care Directive:

You may choose to record your wishes regarding future medical treatment on an Advanced Care Directive (sometimes referred to as Advanced Care Plan).

The Advanced Care Directive enables you to document your health care values. It is a document which is designed to inform your Medical Power of Attorney, your family and your doctors of your medical treatment wishes to enable them to make decisions if you can no longer do so yourself.

End of life decisions are crucial and should form part of all decision making around Wills and Powers of Attorney.