A group of doctors at a Florida hospital were recently faced with an odd set of circumstances. An unidentified 70-year-old patient with serious prior health issues and a high blood alcohol level came in with a tattoo on his chest that read, “Do Not Resuscitate”. At first, the medical team chose to ignore the instructions given the ambiguity of the notation. But, after speaking with the hospital’s ethics consultant, they decided to stop treatment. Fortunately, hospital staff were able to locate the man’s out-of-hospital do not resuscitate order. The patient ultimately died.
See A. J. Willingham, A Man’s Tattoo Left Doctors Debating Whether to Save His Life, CNN, December 2, 2017.
Special thanks to Naomi Cahn (Harold H. Greene Professor of Law, George Washington University School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.
