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Article: Living Will
- Article from:
- Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Living Will
A living will is a written document that declares what life-sustaining medical interventions a person wants if she becomes terminally ill with little or no hope of recovery and is unable to communicate her wishes. It was created in response to the increasing ability of medical technology to prolong dying, frequently in a painful and undignified way. Often at the time life supports are needed patients are unable to communicate their wishes. A patient's autonomy and right to privacy may be violated in such circumstances when it is medical personnel or others, and not the patient, who make crucial decisions regarding life supports. Living wills are designed to permit patients to ...
Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles:
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Article: Living wills: are durable powers of attorney ...
The Hastings Center Report;
November 1, 2004 ;
700+ words
... ... lucid indictment of the use of living wills ("Enough: The Failure of the ... August 2004). They declare living wills a total and unmitigated failure ... authors' major indictments of living wills applies equally and maybe more ...
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