| 单词 | living will | |||
| 释义 | living willliving willliving willliv′ing will′n.
living willliving will,legal document in which a person expresses in advance his or her wishes concerning the use of artificial life supportartificial life support,systems that use medical technology to aid, support, or replace a vital function of the body that has been seriously damaged. Such techniques include artificial pacemakers, internal defibrillators, dialysis machines (see kidney, artificial), and ..... Click the link for more information. , to be referred to should the person be unable to communicate such wishes at the end of life. A living will usually goes into effect only when two physicians certify that a patient is unable to make medical decisions and that the patient's medical circumstances are within the guidelines specified by the state's living-will law. Typically, living wills are used to direct loved ones and doctors to discontinue life-sustaining measures such as intravenous feeding, mechanical respirators, or cardiopulmonary resuscitationcardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), emergency procedure used to treat victims of cardiac and respiratory arrest. CPR can be done in a hospital with drugs and special equipment or as a first-aid technique. ..... Click the link for more information. that the patient would reject were he or she able. Without clear and convincing evidence of a person's wishes (such as a living will), life support may be continued indefinitely because of hospital policies, fear of liability, or a doctor's moral beliefs, even if the family believes the patient's wishes would be otherwise. Living wills are often used in conjunction with a health-care proxyhealth-care proxy, legal document in which a person assigns to another person, usually called an agent or proxy, the authority to make medical decisions in case of incapacitation. It is, in essence, a power of attorney for health care. ..... Click the link for more information. , which authorizes a previously chosen person to make health-care decisions in the event of incapacity. Most states have legislation authorizing living wills. See also euthanasiaeuthanasia , either painlessly putting to death or failing to prevent death from natural causes in cases of terminal illness or irreversible coma. The term comes from the Greek expression for "good death. ..... Click the link for more information. . BibliographySee publications of Choice in Dying. living willliving willwill[wil]living will(liv'ing wil),living willliving willRight to die An advance medical directive in which a mentally-competent adult formally expresses his/her preferences regarding medical treatment, in the event of future incapacitation or incompetence to make medical decisions. See Advance directive, DNR, Health care proxy. Cf Durable powers of attorney, Euthanasia.liv·ing will(liv'ing wil)See: advance directive Synonym(s): durable power of attorney (2) . living willA document requesting and directing what should be done in the event of a person's later inability to express his or her wishes on medical management. The purpose is usually to try to ensure that exceptional measures are not taken to maintain life in the event of a terminal illness. The respecting of such a will has long been accepted in most States in the USA and has, since January 1998, also been a statutory right in Britain. The term refers to the fact that the writer's deposition may be enacted when he or she is still living. The Voluntary Euthanasia Society has recently produced a new draft will that also provides an opportunity for the patient to express the desire to be kept alive for as long as is reasonably possible.liv·ing will(liv'ing wil)Patient discussion about living willQ. do we need the esophagus to live? If we were to take our esophagus away would we still live? Q. How long can an alcoholic expect to live? My nephew who was an alcoholic died in his early age of 35. My uncle who was also an alcoholic died in his age of 48. How long can an alcoholic expect to live? Q. how long do u live with lupus? why do we get lupus? why was i hit with it along with all my other medical problems? i dont understand why.. living willLiving WillA written document that allows a patient to give explicit instructions about medical treatment to be administered when the patient is terminally ill or permanently unconscious; also called an advance directive. With improvements in modern medicine, the life of persons who are terminally ill or permanently unconscious can be prolonged. For increasing numbers of persons, the decision of whether to prolong life is being made in the form of a written document called a living will. The living will is one type of advance directive that may be used by a person before incapacitation to outline a full range of treatment preferences or, most often, to reject treatment. A living will extends the principle of consent, whereby patients must agree to any medical intervention before doctors can proceed. It allows the patient to guide health care for the future when she may be too ill to make decisions concerning care. It can be revoked by the patient at any time. For many the living will preserves personal control and eases the decision-making burden of a family. Forty-two states and the District of Columbia have living-will statutes that make a properly executed living will legally binding. In states that do not have a statute, living wills stand as a clear expression of the patient's wishes. Living-will statutes require that the person be legally competent to execute the will and that the will be witnessed by at least one disinterested person. Once a person who has a valid living will is terminally ill, the attending physician and a second physician must certify in writing that there is no reasonable expectation for improvement in the patient's condition and that death will occur as a result of the incurable disease, illness, or injury. Upon this certification the doctor is obligated to follow the instructions contained in the living will. This typically means the patient does not want any medical procedures that serve only to prolong but not prevent the dying process. Therefore, if the patient is unable to breathe, the doctor is not required to connect the patient to a respirator. A patient may state in a living will that he does not want a feeding tube if unable to swallow food. Another common directive is to forbid resuscitation if the patient's heart stops beating. Living wills have been criticized because they are usually limited to the withholding or withdrawing of "life-sustaining" procedures from a patient with a "terminal condition" or "terminal illness," and thus do not accurately reflect the broad legal right to refuse treatment. In addition, by their very nature, living wills reduce the patient's wishes to writing, and thus may be too rigid (or too vague) to adapt to changing interests or anticipate future circumstances. To overcome these problems, many states have enacted statutes that permit a competent adult to designate a surrogate decision maker (also termed a health care proxy or agent) to make health care decisions for her in the event of incapacitation. The proxy's authority is usually not limited to decisions about life-sustaining treatment. A proxy can supplement a living will. All fifty states have durable-power-of-attorney statutes that permit an individual (the principal) to designate another person (the attorney in fact) to perform specific tasks during any period of incapacity. Though most of these statutes do not expressly refer to medical care decisions, no court has ruled that they preclude the delegation of medical decision-making authority to the attorney in fact. Cross-referencesDeath and Dying; Health Care Law; Organ Donation Law; Patients' Rights; Physicians and Surgeons; Quinlan, In re. living willn. also called "a durable power of attorney," it is a document authorized by statutes in all states, in which a person appoints someone as his/her proxy or representative to make decisions on maintaining extraordinary life-support if the person becomes too ill, is in a coma or is certain to die. In most states the basic language has been developed by medical associations or other experts and may provide various choices as to when such maintenance of life can be terminated. The decision must be made in consultation with the patient's doctor. The living will permits a terminal patient to die in dignity and protects the physician or hospital from liability for withdrawing or limiting life support. living willsee ADVANCE DIRECTIVE.Living willLiving willAdvance DirectiveLiving will.A living will is a legal document that describes the type of medical treatment you want -- or don't want -- if you are terminally ill or unable to communicate your wishes. Like wills that provide instructions about your assets, living wills must be signed and have two or more witnesses to be valid. You can use a healthcare proxy or durable power of attorney for healthcare to authorize someone to act as your agent to ensure your wishes are followed. Because there are still unresolved questions about the extent of your agent's authority, it may be wise to get legal advice in preparing the documents. living will
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living will - a document written by someone still legally capable requesting that he should be allowed to die if subsequently severely disabled or suffering terminal illness; "after he discovered he had AIDS he drew up a living will"