Physicians and hospitals have become accustomed to threatening lawsuits when they fail to save a patient’s life, but what about when they fail to let a patient die? This scenario often happens when health care providers disregard or override advance directives, ultimately resuscitating patients whose instructions clearly say otherwise. Perhaps, these life saving measures are an err on the side of caution, as physicians cannot reverse death. Further, courts have seemed unreceptive to what might be called wrongful-life cases but are increasingly accepting that unwanted life is also a harm. This initiative comes at a time when state law, federal law, and advocacy groups persist upon people putting their end-of-life wishes in writing by filling out an advance directive.
See Paula Span, The Patients Were Saved. That’s Why the Families Are Suing., N.Y. Times, April 10, 2017.
Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) & Lewis Saret (Attorney, Washington, D.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
