Who Controls When the Grim Reaper Appears?

Battles may rage regarding the person with authority to arrange your visit with the Grim Reaper as discussed in Diane E. Hoffmann (Associate Dean for Academic Programs, Director, Law and Health Care Program and Professor of Law, University of Maryland School of Law) & Jack Schwartz (Assistant Attorney General and director of health policy development with the Maryland Attorney General’s Office), Who Decides Whether a Patient Lives or Dies?, Trial, Oct. 2006, at 30.

Here is the article’s teaser:

Whether patients choose life-sustaining medical treatment or prefer to forgo it, they and their families sometimes clash with health care providers. In resolving these disputes, courts are facing tough questions of life and death.