long, but VERY IMPORTANT - health care proxy and living will.

I went to take of all this good stuff today, and the attorney gave me a ton of great information that deserves to be passed on.

As many of you remember, the Terri Schiavo case basically came down to a battle between her spouse's wishes, and her parents' wishes, because Terri was obviously unable to decide for herself. This was because, in the state of Florida, there is a basically a "chain of command" if the sick person doesn't have a healthcare proxy. The order is spouse, parents, .....other family members.

In the state of NY, there is no such "chain of command". If the sick person is unable to make her own decisions, the spouse or parents DO NOT HAVE ANY SAY in the matter. The decision falls upon the treating Dr., and his opinion ONLY.

***ALSO, there is a clause in the living will that allows a dying cancer patient to be given extra morphine, so that the pt doesn't feel anything. Without this clause in the living will, or without a living will in general, NO EXTRA MEDS CAN LEGALLY BE GIVEN and the patient WILL be in pain.

Please get this taken care of It could turn into a scary scary thing if not done. Many attorneys offer FREE healthcare proxy and living will workshops so that you can do it yourself - a lawyer need not be present.

Like I said, I was just given this information today, and I think it's very very important. Take it or leave it.

Re: long, but VERY IMPORTANT - health care proxy and living will.

Thanks Nic, very good information.

Re: long, but VERY IMPORTANT - health care proxy and living will.

i worked in an er they have free helath care proxy forms at hospitals also!

Re: long, but VERY IMPORTANT - health care proxy and living will.

Re: long, but VERY IMPORTANT - health care proxy and living will.

Thanks for the info Nic