Joan M. Teno and her colleagues report a number of illuminating findings in “Do Formal
Advance Directives Affect Resuscitation Decisions and the Use of Resources for Seriously Ill …

The movement to encourage the use of living wills to allow patients to control the care that
they receive at the end of life is now about two decades old. At the present time, nearly all …

Over the past two decades, our society has reached a consensus that medical decision
making should be shaped by patients' preferences. 1 A formal, written advance directive is …

The last day of life is complicated by cognitive impairment in approximately half of
individuals, 1 posing a threat to those individuals' rights to self-determination. In response …

In the latter half of the last century, spectacular advances in medicine (such as mechanical
ventilation, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, dialysis for renal failure, and the transplantation …

Resolution of long-standing debates about the role and impact of advance directives—living
wills and powers of attorney for health care—has been hampered by a dearth of appropriate …

Advance directives are beginning to take their place in the array of skilled interventions that
medicine can bring to patients. The debate is now rarely about whether or not they should …

Approximately one in three American adults has executed a living will or healthcare
declaration stating personal preferences regarding medical treatment in the event that he or …

Background: The appropriate role of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the hospital continues
to be a topic of interest to physicians and patients alike. The use of do not resuscitate (DNR) …

Advance directives hold an anomalous position in our society. They have broad acceptance
as a matter of public policy, having been recognized in some form by the law of nearly every …