"Will to Live" Project

COMMENTARY: CASE POINTS UP URGENCY OF WILL TO LIVE

By Burke J. Balch, J.D., director of NRLC Dep't of Medical Ethics

It is appropriate to be appalled, but no one should be shocked.

Denial of food and fluids to people who cannot speak for themselves has been going on for fifteen years in this country. It is routine practice in hospitals and nursing homes across the country. And for over a decade, the law on this, established by numerous court decisions and statutes, has been largely settled. If someone who is now incompetent to make health care decisions has not left clear instructions in a legal document (variously called an "advance directive," "durable power of attorney for health care," "living will," or the like), then a surrogate decision-maker can legally decide to cut off the person's food and fluids.