Family Surrogate Laws: A Necessary Supplement to Living Wills and Durable Powers of Attorney
![handle is hein.journals/vllalr38 and id is 117 raw text is: 1993]
FAMILY SURROGATE LAWS: A NECESSARY SUPPLEMENT
TO LIVING WILLS AND DURABLE POWERS OF
ATTORNEY
ARDATH A. HAMANN*
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION ........................................ 104
II. CURRENT STATUS OF THE LAW ......................... 107
A. Refusal of Medical Treatment by Competent Adults ...... 107
B. Termination of Medical Treatment for Incompetent Adults 110
1. The Substituted Judgment Test .................... 111
2. The Best Interests Test ........................... 117
C. Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of
H ealth ........................................... 119
D. Current Statutory Solutions .......................... 123
1. Living W ills .................................... 125
2. Durable Powers of Attorney for Health Care ........ 128
3. Other Statutes .................................. 130
4. The Patient Self-Determination Act ................ 132
III. PROBLEMS INHERENT IN JUDICIAL INVOLVEMENT IN
DECISIONMAKING ...................................... 134
A. Judges Should Not Make Personal Medical Decisions .... 137
B. Fictional Assumptions Underlying Judicial Decisions ..... 138
1. It Is Better to Err in Favor of Preserving Life ....... 140
2. The State Has an Interest in Preserving Life ........ 141
3. Most People Want to Be Kept Alive by Machines.. 145
4. There Is No Harm in Postponing the Decision ....... 146
5. Youth Withdraw Medical Treatment from the Elderly 150
6. Family Will Terminate Medical Treatment for
Financial Reasons ............................... 151
7. Removal of Life-Sstaining Treatment Is a Step
Toward Euthanasia ............................. 154
8. Religions Oppose Termination of Life-Sustaining
Treatment ...................................... 156
* Assistant Professor of Law, The John Marshall Law School. B.S. 1974,
Purdue University; J.D. 1977, Marshall-Wythe School of Law, College of William
and Mary; LL.M. 1986, The John Marshall Law School. The author gratefully
acknowledges the assistance of her research assistants, Donna L. Marks and Pat-
rick McMahon, in the preparation of this Article.
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Family Surrogate Laws: A Necessary Supplement to Living Wills and Durable Powers of Attorney
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