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Mesothelioma - Living Wills, DNRs and Medical Powers of Attorney
Advance Directives
A general
term that describes two kinds of legal documents,
living wills and medical powers of attorney. These
documents allow you to give instructions about future medical care and
appoint a person to make health care decisions if you are unable to make them
yourself. Each state regulates the use of advance directives
differently.
Living Will
A type of advance
directive in which an individual documents his or her
wishes about future medical treatment if he
or she is at the end of life and unable to communicate. It may also be called a
"directive to physicians," "health care
declaration," or "medical directive." The purpose of
a living will is to guide family members and doctors in deciding how
aggressively to use medical treatments.
Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) Order
A DNR
order is a physician's written order instructing health care providers not to attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in case of cardiac or respiratory arrest. A person with a valid
DNR order will not be given CPR under these circumstances. Although the DNR
order is written at the request of a person or his or her family, it
must be signed by a physician to be
valid.
Medical Power
of Attorney
A document that allows an individual
to appoint someone else to make decisions about
his or her medical care if he or she is unable to
communicate. It may also be called a health care
proxy, durable power of attorney for health care, or
appointment of a health care agent or surrogate. The person appointed may be
called a health care agent, surrogate, attorney-in-fact, or proxy.
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